eprintid: 1396550 rev_number: 39 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/39/65/50 datestamp: 2013-06-17 18:54:02 lastmod: 2022-01-25 23:32:52 status_changed: 2013-06-17 18:54:02 type: article metadata_visibility: show item_issues_count: 0 creators_name: Elbaz, A creators_name: Sabia, S creators_name: Brunner, E creators_name: Shipley, M creators_name: Marmot, M creators_name: Kivimaki, M creators_name: Singh-Manoux, A title: Association of walking speed in late midlife with mortality: results from the Whitehall II cohort study. ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: D12 divisions: G19 note: © The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. abstract: Slow walking speed is associated with increased mortality in the elderly, but it is unknown whether a similar association is present in late midlife. Our aim was to examine walking speed in late midlife as a predictor of mortality, as well as factors that may explain this association. Data are drawn from the Whitehall II longitudinal cohort study of British civil servants. The analyses are based on 6,266 participants (29% women; mean age=61 years, SD=6) for whom "walking speed at usual pace" was measured over 8 ft (2.44 m) at baseline. Participants were followed for all-cause and cause-specific mortalities during a mean of 6.4 (SD=0.8) years. During this period, 227 participants died. Participants in the bottom sex-specific third of walking speed (men, <1.26 m/s; women, <1.09 m/s) had an increased risk of death compared to those in the middle and top thirds (age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio=1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI)01.45-2.46), with no evidence of effect modification by age or sex (interactions, P≥0.40). The association between walking speed and mortality was partially explained by baseline inflammatory markers (percentage reduction of the association 22.8%), height and body mass index (16.6%), chronic diseases (14.0%), and health behaviors (13.4%). Together these and other baseline factors (socioeconomic status, cardiovascular risk factors, cognitive function) explained 48.5% of the association (adjusted hazard ratio=1.39, 95% CI01.04-1.84). In conclusion, walking speed measured in late midlife seems to be an important marker of mortality risk; multiple factors, in particular inflammatory markers, partially explain this association. date: 2013-06 official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9387-9 vfaculties: VFPHS oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't verified: verified_manual elements_source: PubMed elements_id: 877261 doi: 10.1007/s11357-012-9387-9 lyricists_name: Brunner, Eric lyricists_name: Kivimaki, Mika lyricists_name: Sabia, Severine lyricists_name: Shipley, Martin lyricists_name: Singh-Manoux, Archana lyricists_id: EJBRU90 lyricists_id: MJKIV95 lyricists_id: SRSAB69 lyricists_id: MJSHI88 lyricists_id: ASING25 full_text_status: public publication: Age (Dordr) volume: 35 number: 3 pagerange: 943 - 952 event_location: Netherlands citation: Elbaz, A; Sabia, S; Brunner, E; Shipley, M; Marmot, M; Kivimaki, M; Singh-Manoux, A; (2013) Association of walking speed in late midlife with mortality: results from the Whitehall II cohort study. Age (Dordr) , 35 (3) 943 - 952. 10.1007/s11357-012-9387-9 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-012-9387-9>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1396550/1/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11357-012-9387-9.pdf