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Abstract
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BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with walking performance, but potential underlying mechanisms of this association remain unclear. The present study aims to disentangle the pathways linking DM to gait and falls through the serial mediation effect of vision and cognition among the older population.
METHODS: Data were taken from wave 9 (2018-2019) of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA), including 5496 participants aged 60 years and older. DM was identified based on medical diagnosis and laboratory tests. Vision and falls were self-reported. Cognition was evaluated using questionnaire. Gait speed was measured by the "timed walking test". Serial mediation analysis was performed using Mplus 8.3.
RESULTS: DM was associated with impaired gait speed (c = 0.085, P < 0.05) and falls (c = 0.061, P < 0.05). The serial mediation model revealed that vision and cognition significantly mediated the association of DM with impaired gait speed, with 17.97% and 23.60% of the total effects explained by vision and cognition respectively, and 3.37% explained by the path through vision and then cognition. Similarly, vision and cognition significantly mediated the association of DM with falls, with 14.99% and 6.67% of the total effects explained by vision and cognition respectively, and 1.67% explained by the path through vision and then cognition.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to deeper understanding of the mechanism underlying the association of DM with walking performance. Evaluation and intervention targeted at vision and the cognition may be beneficial for improving gait or reducing falls in older adults with DM.
Language: en |