TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Assessing the relationship between vitamin D status and impairments in cognitive and physical performance in older adults using a dual task physical performance test
JO  - Journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease
A1  - Lopez, J.
A1  - Campa, A.
A1  - Lewis, J. E.
A1  - Huffman, F. G.
A1  - Liuzzi, J. P.
A1  - Li, T.
A1  - Martinez, A. H.
A1  - Ferris, S. M.
A1  - Rasul, A.
A1  - Farooqi, A.
A1  - Lopez Medrano, A. M.
A1  - Atlas, S. E.
A1  - Tiozzo, E.
A1  - Konefal, J.
A1  - Woolger, J. M.
SP  - 29
EP  - 36
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of falls in older adults. Several studies have demonstrated an association between vitamin D deficiency and gait and cognitive impairments, which are two risk factors for falls in the elderly. There is lack of research about the role of vitamin D in cognitive function in the context of mobility. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between vitamin D status with the age-related changes in mobility through higher order cognitive function using a dual task physical performance test. <br><br>DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community-dwelling older adult population located in Miami, Fl. PARTICIPANTS: Healthy participants over the age of 55 (n=97) who participated in the parent interventional study. MEASUREMENTS: Participants completed assessments that included serum levels of vitamin D, surveys, and dual task physical performance tests. Spearman's correlations, independent t-tests, repeated measures ANOVAs and multiple logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between vitamin D insufficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D <30 ng/ml) and sufficiency (≥30 ng/ml) and dual task physical performance variables. The significance level was set at α=0.05. <br><br>RESULTS: There were no significant associations between vitamin D insufficiency and gait velocity during either task. Using Spearman correlations, slower single (P=0.011) and dual task counting rates (P=0.006) were significantly associated with vitamin D insufficiency. Independent t-tests showed dual and single task counting rates were significantly lower in the vitamin D insufficient group compared to the sufficient group (P=0.018 and P=0.028, respectively). The results for the ANOVAs indicated that velocities and counting rates were not significantly different by vitamin D status (Wilk's Lambda =0.999; F (1, 95) =.11, P=.740) (Wilk's Lambda =.999, F(1,95)=.13, P=.718). Vitamin D status was not significantly associated with dual task physical performance (defined as the difference in dual and single task) in gait velocity (OR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.98; 1.02, P=0.772) and counting rate (OR=1.684, 95% CI: 0.15; 19.57, P=0.677), when controlling for confounders. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Since counting backward is a mental tracking task, which is a component of executive function, our results suggest a relationship between vitamin D insufficiency and executive dysfunction. Executive dysfunction has been previously associated with fall risks in the elderly, and it could be a possible mediator between vitamin D and falls. Our data suggest that cognition may play a significant role in vitamin D's influence on falls, while motor function may play a lesser role.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2274-5807
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jpad.2016.114
ID  - ref1
ER  -