Is symptomatic knee osteoarthritis a risk factor for a trajectory of fast decline in gait speed? Results from a longitudinal cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Gait speed is an important marker of health in adults and slows with aging. While knee osteoarthritis (OA) can result in difficulty walking, it is not known if radiographic knee OA (ROA) and/or knee pain are associated with a fast decline trajectory of gait speed over time.

Methods

Gait speed trajectories were constructed using a multinomial modeling strategy from repeated 20-meter walk tests measured annually over 4 years among participants from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a prospective cohort study of adults ages 45-79 years at baseline with or at high risk of knee OA. We grouped participants into 4 knee OA categories (having neither ROA nor knee pain, ROA only, knee pain only, or symptomatic knee OA [ROA and pain]) and examined their association with trajecto

SUBMITTER: White DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3529801 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature