Poor Walking Speed Is Associated With Higher Segment-Specific Arterial Stiffness in Older Adult Japanese Community Dwellers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Walking speed as one index of gait ability is an important component of physical fitness among older adults. Walking speed-arterial stiffness relationships have been studied, but whether poor walking speed is associated with higher segment-specific arterial stiffness in older adults is unclear. We thus aimed to examine the relationship between walking speed and segmental arterial stiffness among older community dwellers. This study was a cross-sectional study of 492 older Japanese community dwellers (age range, 65 to 96 years). Heart-brachial PWV (hbPWV), brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), heart-ankle PWV (haPWV), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) were used as arterial stiffness indices. Walking speed, strength, flexibility, and cognitive function were also assessed. The participants were categorized into low (Slow), middle (Middle), and high (Fast) tertiles according to walking speed. The CAVI and baPWV were significantly lower in Fast than in Slow. Significant decreasing trends in CAVI and baPWV and a tendency toward decreasing trend in haPWV were observed from Slow to Fast, whereas hbPWV did not significantly differ among tertiles and no trend was evident. The results remained significant after normalizing CAVI and PWVs for multicollinearity of arterial stiffness indices and major confounding factors, such as age, gender, body mass index, blood pressure, cognitive function, and each physical fitness. Therefore, these findings suggest that poor walking speed is associated with higher segment-specific arterial stiffness of the central and lower limbs, but not of upper, in older adult community dwellers.

Acute Effects of Low-Intensity Electrical Stimulation on Segmental Arterial Stiffness

“…However, ankle diastolic and mean BPs were decreased by EMS. Furthermore, CAVI is generally an indicator of systemic PWV (i.e., haPWV) after adjusting for BP, and haPWV comprises hbPWV and baPWV elements ( Kume et al, 2020 ; Ogawa et al, 2020 ). In the present study, no significant changes in hbPWV were observed, reflecting arterial stiffness of the upper limbs from the aorta to the brachium ( Sugawara et al, 2019 ).…”

“…BP and PWVs were measured with the patient supine using a VS-1500AE/AN semi-automated device (Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan) as assessment parameters for each trial before and 5 and 30 min after each trial ( Nishiwaki et al, 2017 ; Nishiwaki et al, 2019 ; Nishiwaki et al, 2020 ; Ogawa et al, 2020 ). Cuffs to measure BP and PWV were wrapped around both upper arms and the ankles, then CAVI, heart-ankle PWV (haPWV), brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV), and heart-brachial PWV (hbPWV) were used as indices of arterial stiffness.…”

Regular exercise ball training reduces arterial stiffness in sedentary middle-aged males

“…After resting for >15 min, we measured PWV, BP, and heart rate (HR) with the participant supine using a semi-automated device (VS-1500AE/AN; Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan), as previously described 18,19) . According to previous studies [20][21][22] , CAVI, heart-ankle PWV (haPWV), heart-brachial PWV (hbPWV), and brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) were calculated as indicators of arterial stiffness. Intraobserver CVs for CAVI, haPWV, hbPWV, and baPWV determined in the laboratory on two separate days were 3.6 ± 1.9%, 2.6 ± 2.6%, 4.2 ± 3.4%, and 2.7 ± 1.5%, respectively 18,19,23) .…”

Relationship between physical fitness and arterial stiffness in Korean older adults

“…In light of this importance, the associations of several physical fitness surrogate measures, such as grip strength, walking speed, and balance tests with arterial stiffness, have been examined. [15][16][17] However, these studies were limited by the small number of participants. [15][16][17] In addition, some studies have reported inconsistent results.…”

“…[15][16][17] However, these studies were limited by the small number of participants. [15][16][17] In addition, some studies have reported inconsistent results. [15,18,19] Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between various physical fitness parameters and systemic arterial stiffness in older adults.…”