OBJECTIVES: To describe the relationship between symptom scores and mobility function measures, assess whether symptom scores and disease scores are similarly associated with mobility function, and identify clusters of symptoms that are most strongly associated with functional status in older adults. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from three cohorts. SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred ninety-five community-dwelling subjects with poor flexibility or cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness cohort), 211 female retirement community residents with vertebral fractures (VF cohort), and 61 subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD cohort). MEASUREMENTS: Twenty-item self-reported symptom scale, 17-item self-reported disease scale, Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) Physical Functioning Scale, 5-item Nagi Disability scale, 10-m walk time, supine to stand time. RESULTS: Symptom scores correlated with mobility function measures (Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.222 to 0.509) at least as strongly as, if not more strongly than, did disease scores. Symptom scores remained associated with functional outcomes after controlling for disease score and demographic variables. Adding symptom scores to models that contained disease scores significantly increased the association with functional outcomes. In the fitness cohort, muscle weakness was the most explanatory single symptom, associated with an average decrease of 17.8 points on the Physical Functioning Scale. A model that included only muscle weakness, pain, and shortness of breath accounted for 21.2% of the variability in the Physical Functioning Score. CONCLUSION: Symptoms represent useful indicators of disability burden in older adults and are promising targets for interventions to improve function in medically complex patients.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the relationship between symptom scores and mobility function measures, assess whether symptom scores and disease scores are similarly associated with mobility function, and identify clusters of symptoms that are most strongly associated with functional status in older adults. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from three cohorts. SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred ninety-five community-dwelling subjects with poor flexibility or cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness cohort), 211 female retirement community residents with vertebral fractures (VF cohort), and 61 subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD cohort). MEASUREMENTS: Twenty-item self-reported symptom scale, 17-item self-reported disease scale, Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) Physical Functioning Scale, 5-item Nagi Disability scale, 10-m walk time, supine to stand time. RESULTS: Symptom scores correlated with mobility function measures (Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.222 to 0.509) at least as strongly as, if not more strongly than, did disease scores. Symptom scores remained associated with functional outcomes after controlling for disease score and demographic variables. Adding symptom scores to models that contained disease scores significantly increased the association with functional outcomes. In the fitness cohort, muscle weakness was the most explanatory single symptom, associated with an average decrease of 17.8 points on the Physical Functioning Scale. A model that included only muscle weakness, pain, and shortness of breath accounted for 21.2% of the variability in the Physical Functioning Score. CONCLUSION: Symptoms represent useful indicators of disability burden in older adults and are promising targets for interventions to improve function in medically complex patients.
Authors: Linda P Fried; Luigi Ferrucci; Jonathan Darer; Jeff D Williamson; Gerard Anderson Journal: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci Date: 2004-03 Impact factor: 6.053
Authors: G G Fillenbaum; C F Pieper; H J Cohen; J C Cornoni-Huntley; J M Guralnik Journal: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci Date: 2000-02 Impact factor: 6.053
Authors: Jordi Alonso; Montserrat Ferrer; Barbara Gandek; John E Ware; Neil K Aaronson; Paola Mosconi; Niels K Rasmussen; Monika Bullinger; Shunichi Fukuhara; Stein Kaasa; Alain Leplège Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2004-03 Impact factor: 4.147
Authors: Deborah T Gold; Kathy M Shipp; Carl F Pieper; Pamela W Duncan; Salutario Martinez; Kenneth W Lyles Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2004-09 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: Suzanne G Leveille; Linda P Fried; William McMullen; Jack M Guralnik Journal: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci Date: 2004-01 Impact factor: 6.053
Authors: Heather E Whitson; Stephen Thielke; Paula Diehr; Ann M O'Hare; Paulo H M Chaves; Neil A Zakai; Alice Arnold; Sarwat Chaudhry; Diane Ives; Anne B Newman Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2011-02-02 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: Kushang V Patel; Jack M Guralnik; Elizabeth A Phelan; Nancy M Gell; Robert B Wallace; Mark D Sullivan; Dennis C Turk Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2018-12-12 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: Kendra D Sheppard; Cynthia J Brown; Kristine R Hearld; David L Roth; Patricia Sawyer; Julie L Locher; Richard M Allman; Christine S Ritchie Journal: J Pain Symptom Manage Date: 2012-12-05 Impact factor: 3.612
Authors: Christine S Ritchie; Kristine R Hearld; Alden Gross; Richard Allman; Patricia Sawyer; Kendra Sheppard; Amanda Salanitro; Julie Locher; Cynthia J Brown; David L Roth Journal: Med Care Date: 2013-10 Impact factor: 2.983