AUTHOR=Zhong Qian , Ali Nawab , Gao Yaxin , Wu Han , Wu Xixi , Sun Cuiyun , Ma Jinhui , Thabane Lehana , Xiao Ming , Zhou Qiumin , Shen Ying , Wang Tong , Zhu Yi 

TITLE=Gait Kinematic and Kinetic Characteristics of Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Decline: A Cross-Sectional Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2021.664558

DOI=10.3389/fnagi.2021.664558

ISSN=1663-4365

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have slower gait speed and poor gait performance under dual-task conditions. However, gait kinematic and kinetic characteristics in older adults with MCI or subjective cognitive decline (SCD) remain unknown. This study was designed to explore the difference in gait kinematics and kinetics during level walking among older people with MCI, SCD, and normal cognition (NC).</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>This cross-sectional study recruited 181 participants from July to December 2019; only 82 met the inclusion criteria and consented to participate and only 79 completed gait analysis. Kinematic and kinetic data were obtained using three-dimensional motion capture system during level walking, and joint movements of the lower limbs in the sagittal plane were analyzed by Visual 3D software. Differences in gait kinematics and kinetics among the groups were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with Bonferroni <italic>post-hoc</italic> analysis. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, the significance level was <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.002 for MANCOVA and <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0008 for <italic>post-hoc</italic> analysis.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Twenty-two participants were MCI [mean ± standard deviation (SD) age, 71.23 ± 6.65 years], 33 were SCD (age, 72.73 ± 5.25 years), and 24 were NC (age, 71.96 ± 5.30 years). MANCOVA adjusted for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), gait speed, years of education, diabetes mellitus, and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) revealed a significant multivariate effect of group in knee peak extension angle (<italic>F</italic> = 8.77, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001) and knee heel strike angle (<italic>F</italic> = 8.07, <italic>p</italic> = 0.001) on the right side. <italic>Post-hoc</italic> comparisons with Bonferroni correction showed a significant increase of 5.91° in knee peak extension angle (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001) and a noticeable decrease of 6.21°in knee heel strike angle (<italic>p</italic> = 0.001) in MCI compared with NC on the right side. However, no significant intergroup difference was found in gait kinetics, including dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, knee flexion, knee extension, hip flexion, and hip extension(<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.002).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>An increase of right knee peak extension angle and a decrease of right knee heel strike angle during level walking were found among older adults with MCI compared to those with NC.</p></sec>