Resumen de Slow Gait Speed and Risk of Mortality or Hospital Readmission After Myocardial Infarction in the Translational Research Investigating Underlying Disparities in Recovery from Acute Myocardial Infarction: Patients' Health Status Registry
John A. Dodson, Suzanne V. Arnold, Kensey L. Gosch, Thomas M. Gill, John A. Spertus, Harlan M. Krumholz, Michael W. Rich, Sarwat I. Chaudhry, Daniel E. Forman, Frederick A. Masoudi, Karen P. Alexander
Objectives To determine the prognostic value of slow gait in predicting outcomes 1 year after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
Design Observational cohort with longitudinal follow-up.
Setting Twenty-four U.S. hospitals participating in the Translational Research Investigating Underlying disparities in recovery from acute Myocardial infarction: Patients' Health status Registry.
Participants Older adults (≥65) with in-home gait assessment 1 month after AMI (N = 338).
Measurements Baseline characteristics and 1-year mortality or hospital readmission adjusted using Cox proportional hazards regression in older adults with slow (<0.8 m/s) versus preserved (≥0.8 m/s) gait speed.
Results Slow gait was present in 181 participants (53.6%). Those with slow gait were older, more likely to be female and nonwhite, and had a higher prevalence of heart failure and diabetes mellitus. They were also more likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital within 1 year than those with preserved gait (35.4% vs 18.5%, log-rank P = .006). This association remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, and race (slow vs preserved gait hazard ratio (HR) = 1.76, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.08–2.87, P = .02) but was no longer significant after adding clinical factors (HR = 1.23, 95% CI=0.74–2.04, P = .43).
Conclusion Slow gait, a marker of frailty, is common 1 month after AMI in older adults and is associated with nearly twice the risk of dying or hospital readmission at 1 year. Understanding its prognostic importance independent of comorbidities and whether routine testing of gait speed can improve care requires further investigation.
