Affiliations: [a] Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China
| [b] Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, Lyon, France
| [c] School of Health Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China
| [d] University College London, London, UK
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Lei Wang, PhD, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 236 Baidi Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, China. Tel.: +86 139 2004 6822; E-mail: leiwang2006163@163.com.
Abstract: Background:Early recognition of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease is crucial for disease diagnosis and treatment, and existing objective tools for early screening of cognitive impairment are limited. Objective:To investigate age-related behavioral indicators of dual-task cognitive performance and gait parameters and to explore potential objective markers of early cognitive decline. Methods:The community-based cognitive screening data was analyzed. Hierarchical cluster analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were performed on the 9-item subjective cognitive decline (SCD-9) scores, walking-cognitive dual-task performance, walking speed, and gait parameters of 152 participants. The significant differences of indicators that may related to cognitive decline were statistically analyzed across six age groups. A mathematical model with age as the independent variable and motor cognition composite score as the dependent variable was established to observe the trend of motor cognition dual-task performance with age. Results:Strong correlation was found between motor cognitive scores and SCD and age. Gait parameters like the mean value of ankle angle, the left-right difference rate of ankle angle and knee angle and the coefficient of variation of gait cycle showed an excellent correlation with age. Motor cognition scores showed a decreasing trend with age. The slope of motor cognition scores with age after 50 years (k = –1.06) was six times higher than that before 50 years (k = –0.18). Conclusions:Cognitive performance and gait parameters in the walking-cognitive dual-task state are promising objective markers that could characterize age-related cognitive decline.
