Dyspnea is associated with poor physical performance among community-dwelling older adults: A population-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dyspnea and poorer physical performance are conditions that may be related and be present among the elderly. However, few studies have evaluated associations between these variables. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an association between dyspnea and physical performance among community-dwelling older adults of both sexes (age 60 years and over). DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted in the city of Macapá, state of Amapá, Brazil. METHODS: Socioeconomic and health data were collected using a structured form. Frailty syndrome was assessed based on the frailty phenotype proposed by Fried et al. Dyspnea was measured using the mod-ified Medical Research Council (mMRC) scale and physical performance was measured using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Data were analyzed using a linear regression model. RESULTS: A total of 411 subjects (70.15 ± 7.25 years) were evaluated, most of them females (66.4%). It was observed from the mMRC scale that 30.9% (n = 127) of the subjects had some dyspnea symptoms: grade 1 was most frequent. The physical performance score from the SPPB was 9.22 ± 2.01. Higher dyspnea scores were associated with poor physical performance, both in the crude analysis (β =-0.233; P = 0.028) and after adjustment for frailty condition (β =-0.148; P = 0.002) and for the socioeconomic and health variables (age, sex, number of diseases, smoking habit and frailty status) (β =-0.111; P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: Higher dyspnea score was independently associated with poor physical performance among community-dwelling older adults.