Physical Performance and Telomere Length in Older Adults

The aging population prompts studying risk factors and markers to predict healthy aging. Telomere length is a promising candidate for assessing various age-related traits.

To investigate the association between physical performance and telomere length.

We enrolled 323 older Mexican adults from the "Cohort of Obesity, Sarcopenia, and Frailty of Older Mexican Adults" affiliated with the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social and assessed their physical performance using the Short Physical Performance Battery, dividing participants into low (≤7) and high (>7) groups. Absolute telomere length was determined by qPCR, and individuals were classified into short (≤4.22 kb) and long (>4.22 kb) groups. We calculated the mean and adjusted mean, considering sex and age, among others, with 95% CI. We estimated the effect size between physical performance and telomere length using Cohen's d for unequal group sizes and calculated the odds ratio for physical performance based on telomere length.

Participants with low physical performance had significantly shorter telomeres (mean _4.14.4_4.7 kb, adjusted mean _3.54.0_4.5 kb, p <0.001), while those with high physical performance exhibited longer telomeres (mean _5.55.7_5.9 kb, adjusted mean _4.75.3_5.8 kb, p <0.001), with a medium-to-high telomere length effect size (d = 0.762). The odds of low physical activity increased _2.13.6_6.1-fold per kb of telomere attrition (adjOR _1.73.3_6.3, p <0.001).

Decreased physical function is associated with shorter telomere length. Absolute telomere length presents a promising biomarker for distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy aging, warranting further investigation.