Baseline lower extremity strength and subsequent decline in functional performance at 6-year follow-up in persons...

To evaluate associations between baseline lower extremity strength and decline in functional performance over 6 years of follow-up in men and women with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Prospective observational study.

Three Chicago-area hospitals.

Three hundred seventy-four men and women with PAD.

Baseline isometric hip extension, hip flexion, knee flexion, and knee extension strength were measured using a musculoskeletal fitness evaluation chair. Usual and fastest-paced 4-m walking speed, 6-minute walk, and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) were assessed at baseline and annually thereafter. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race, ankle-brachial index (ABI), comorbidities, and other confounders.

In women with PAD, weaker baseline hip and knee flexion strength were associated with faster average annual decline in usual-pace 4-m walking speed (P trend <.001 and .02, respectively) and SPPB (P trend=.02 and .01, respectively). In women, weaker hip extension strength was associated with faster decline in usual-pace 4-m walking speed and SPPB (P trend=.01 and <.01, respectively). There were no significant associations between baseline strength and decline in 6-minute walk in women. There were no significant associations between any baseline strength measure and functional decline in men.

Weaker baseline leg strength is associated with faster functional decline in nonendurance measures of functional performance in women with PAD but not in men with PAD.