Muscle Strength, Sarcopenia and Frailty Associations with Balance and Gait Parameters: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: While sarcopenia and frailty may lead to gait and balance impairments, their impact on these parameters is not well understood. To assess the relationship of some gait and balance parameters with sarcopenia and frailty in community-dwelling elderly people. Materials and Methods: Observational cross-sectional study of community-dwelling people ≥70 years old. Frailty and sarcopenia were defined according to Fried criteria and the criteria of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, respectively. Balance and gait assessments included the single-leg stand test, static posturography using a force platform and static and dynamic baropodometric studies of pressures from the soles of the feet. Results: Sixty-two patients (mean age=78 years; 50% women) were recruited, 21% and 14% of whom were frail and with sarcopenia, respectively. Poor muscle strength, sarcopenia and frailty were associated with incapacity to stand on one foot for 5 seconds but not with instrumental balance assessments. Poor muscle strength and frailty were associated with longer support time, longer double support time, shorter gait and slower gait but were not associated with gait cadence. After adjusting for age and other possible confounders, the effect of frailty, but not the effect of poor muscle strength, on gait parameters disappeared. Frailty and falls were associated with a crude odds ratio of 3.4 (p=0.083). Conclusion: Poor muscle strength and frailty are associated with incipient balance disorders (indicating an increased risk of falls), and with gait adaptations.