RT Journal Article
T1 Gait speed as a mediator of the effect of sarcopenia on dependency in activities of daily living
A1 Pérez Sousa, Miguel Ángel
A1 Venegas Sanabria, Luis Carlos
A1 Chavarro Carvajal, Diego Andrés
A1 Cano Gutierrez, Carlos Alberto
A1 Izquierdo, Mikel
A1 Correa Bautista, Jorge Enrique
A1 Ramírez Vélez, Robinson
AB Background Sarcopenia in older adults is strongly associated with an increase in dependency in activities of daily living (ADL)and with a decline in gait speed. Interestingly, gait speed has been shown to independently predict mortality. In this context,our study aimed to explore the mediator role of gait speed on the relationship between sarcopenia and dependency in ADL.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Colombia, 19 705 older adults with a mean age of 70 years, 55.6%women, 16.1% with sarcopenia, and 14.7% mild, moderate, or severe dependency in ADL, according to ‘SABE Survey 2015’.Sarcopenia was assessed by calf circumference and ADL dependence through the Barthel Index. Gait speed was measured overa distance of 3 m. The association between sarcopenia condition and gait speed and dependency level was analysed by linearregression adjusted by covariates. To examine whether gait speed mediated the association between sarcopenia and dependencecomponents of physical function, simple mediation models were generated using ordinary least squares with the macroPROCESS version 3.2, adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI).Results Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found in gait speed and dependency in ADL between the sarcopenia and nonsarcopeniagroups after adjusting for age, sex, and BMI. BMI was significantly higher in the non-sarcopenia group whereas dependencywas significantly higher in the sarcopenia group (19.6% vs. 13.8%). Results from mediation model regression analysisindicated a significant and direct detrimental effect of sarcopenia on dependency in ADL (β =  0.05; P < 0.001), and a significantindirect effect of gait speed on the direct effect ( 0.009 to  0.004).Conclusions The negative effect of sarcopenia on functional dependence was mediated by the gait speed. Therefore, gaitspeed may positively influence the detrimental effect of sarcopenia for dependency, after adjusting for age, gender, andBMI. Consequently, physical exercise should be promoted and focused to circumvent the gait speed decline associated withage in older people with sarcopenia.
PB Springer Verlag
SN 2190-5991
SN 2190-6009
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/16313
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/16313
LA eng
NO Perez‐Sousa, M. A., Venegas‐Sanabria, L. C., Chavarro‐Carvajal, D. A., Cano‐Gutierrez, C. A., Izquierdo, M., Correa‐Bautista, J. E., & Ramírez‐Vélez, R. (2019). Gait speed as a mediator of the effect of sarcopenia on dependency in activities of daily living. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12444
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 14 jul 2026