Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphism predicts rapid gait speed changes in healthy older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Adapting one's gait speed to external circumstances is critical for safe ambulation. Dopamine (DA), critical for adapting to increased task demands, predicts usual gait speed and may exert a greater role in complex tasks like rapid gait speed.

Objective

We hypothesized that a genotypic proxy indicator of greater prefrontal DA signaling would predict significantly faster rapid gait.

Design

Longitudinal cohort study over 8 years.

Setting

Community-dwelling adults with no baseline mobility disability.

Participants

N = 2353 participants from the Health ABC Study.

Measurements

Repeated measures of walking speed (meters/sec) were obtained in response to: "walk as fast as possible… (rapid gait) or "walk at your usual pace (usual gait)." Catech

SUBMITTER: Sprague BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8595534 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature