789 - Single Task and Dual Task Gait Speed in Frailty Screening of Community-Dwelling Seniors

Objectives: Frailty is a geriatric syndrome of increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. Gait speed is significantly associated with physical frailty. However, the impact of cognitive-motor dual tasking on this relationship is underexplored. We aim to investigate the intricate interplay between single task (ST) and dual task (DT) gait speed and its association with frailty status within a community-dwelling population.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted within a comprehensive community-based frailty and sarcopenia screening platform for seniors 55 years or older. Participants were categorised as robust, pre-frail or frail with the FRAIL phenotype, a 5-item self-reported questionnaire. The 10m gait speed was assessed under ST and 2 different DT conditions, a calculation task (DT1) and naming task (DT2), and each condition was analysed separately.

Results: There were 989 seniors with mean age of 68.1 (6.8) years old, of which 738 (74.6%) were female. There were 185 pre-frail and 17 frail (PFF) participants, and they were analysed as a single group. In PFF seniors, the ST, DT1 and DT2 gait speeds were 1.05 (0.32) m/s, 0.87 (0.30) m/s and 0.78 (0.30) m/s respectively. The robust seniors ambulated significantly faster (p< 0.05) than the PFF seniors for all 3 conditions, with ST, DT1 and DT2 gait speeds of 1.31 (0.22) m/s, 1.12 (0.25) m/s and 0.97 (0.27) m/s respectively.

Conclusions: The PFF seniors’ DT gait speed fell below 0.8m/s, an established cut-off for safe community ambulation. This may imply challenges performing functional motor activities with simultaneous cognitive stressors in this group. It opens an opportunity for DT training in rehabilitation of PFF seniors. Also, DT assessment is translatable and easily deployable in the community, and early detection of DT impairments may prevent the onset of future disability. Further research should investigate the pathophysiological associations between cognitive impairment, DT performance and frailty.