Polypharmacy and gait speed in individuals with mild cognitive impairment

Polypharmacy has been reported to be associated with poor outcomes, including falls and frailty, in older populations. Past studies have found that slower walking speed is a good predictor of progression to frank dementia in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Some studies of the general population reported that polypharmacy was associated with slower gait speed; however, it remains to be elucidated whether polypharmacy affects gait speed even in individuals with MCI, who already have some deterioration in gait compared with cognitively preserved individuals. The current study explored the association between the number of medications and gait speed in older adults with MCI who have a Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0.5.

A total of 128 individuals with MCI were included in the present study. The participants were divided into three groups according to the number of medications they were taking: up to four medications was non-polypharmacy; five to nine medications was polypharmacy; and ≥10 medications was hyperpolypharmacy. The background characteristics were compared by analysis of variance for numerical numbers, and by χ² analysis for categorical factors. Multiple regression and logistic analysis were applied to investigate the association between gait speed and polypharmacy status or number of medications.

Gait speed was significantly negatively associated with hyperpolypharmacy status and the number of medications. Slow gait speed (<1 m/s) was also significantly associated with polypharmacy status and the number of medications.

We found that polypharmacy was associated with slow gait speed in older adults with MCI. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 730-735.