Paulo Giusti Rossi

Gait, dual task and history of falls in elderly with preserved cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and mild Alzheimer's disease

Highlights • Dual tasks can be applicable to assess elderly with mild Alzheimers disease.• Patients with preserved cognition and mild cognitive impairment presented with similar mobility.• Specific local and consequences of falls were identified for each cognitive group.

Association Between Gait and Dual Task With Cognitive Domains in Older People With Cognitive Impairment

ABSTRACT The authors investigated whether impaired gait and dual-task performances are associated with specific cognitive domains among older people with preserved cognition (PC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild Alzheimers disease (AD). The sample comprised 40 older adults with PC, 40 with MCI, and 38 with mild AD. The assessment consisted of gait (measured by 10-m walk test and Timed Up and Go Test [TUGT]), dual task (measured by TUGT associated with a cognitive-motor task of calling a phone number), and cognition (domains of the Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination–Revised and Frontal Assessment Battery [FAB]). For data analysis, the Pearson product-moment correlation and the backward stepwise linear regression were conducted. Language, fluency, and visuospatial domains predicted the 10-m walk test measure specifically in PC, MCI, and AD groups. Only the visuospatial domain was independently associated with the TUGT measure in the MCI and AD groups. FAB score, language domain, and FAB score and fluency domain were the strongest predictors for the isolated cognitive-motor task measure in the PC, MCI, and AD groups, respectively. The visuospatial domain was independently associated with the dual-task test measure in all 3 groups. The study findings demonstrate the influence of specific cognitive domains in daily mobility tasks in people with different cognitive profiles.

Effects of the Addition of a Dual Task to a Supervised Physical Exercise Program on Older Adults' Cognitive Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the addition of a dual task to multicomponent training on cognition of active older adults. Eighty physically active older adults were divided into an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG). Both groups performed multicomponent training over 12 weeks. The IG simultaneously performed exercises and cognitive tasks. The Mini-Mental State Examination, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and the Clock Drawing Test were used for cognitive assessments. The Timed Up and Go Test associated with a cognitive task was used for dual-task assessment. Significant interactions were not observed between groups in terms of the cognitive variables or the dual-task performance. An interaction was observed only for Timed Up and Go Test performance, which was better in the CG than in the IG. Active older adults showed no improvement in cognition following the addition of the dual task to the multicomponent training.

Differences in Timed Up and Go Subtasks Between Older People With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

This study compared performances of timed up and go test subtasks between 40 older people with preserved cognition, 40 with mild cognitive impairment, and 38 with mild Alzheimers disease. The assessment consisted of anamneses and timed up and go test subtasks (sit-to-stand, walking forward, turn, walking back, and turn-to-sit). Data were captured by Qualisys Track Manager software and processed by Visual3D software. The MATLAB program was applied to detect and analyze timed up and go test subtasks. All subtasks differentiated people with Alzheimers disease and preserved cognition, except the sit-to-stand subtask, which did not distinguish any group. The walking forward subtask differed older people with preserved cognition from mild cognitive impairment, specifically on minimum peak of knee, average value of knee, and hip (pitch axis) during stance phase. The walking back, turn, and turn-to-sit subtasks distinguished subjects with Alzheimers disease from mild cognitive impairment. The separated analysis of transition and walking subtasks is important in identifying mobility patterns among cognitive profiles.