Title:Relationship between Body Composition and Gait Characteristics in
Patients with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease
Volume: 21
Issue: 2
Author(s): Hongyang Xie, Zhenxi Xia, Cuiqiao Xia, Nan Zhang, Yu Ding, Hongyi Zhao and Yonghua Huang*
Affiliation:
- Department of Neurology, The Seven Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
Keywords:
Cerebral small vessel diseases, dual-task walking, body fat, muscle mass, gait, single-task walking (STW).
Abstract:
Background: This study aims to explore the correlation between body composition,
encompassing factors such as muscle mass and fat distribution, and gait performance during both
single-task walking (STW) and dual-task walking (DTW) in patients diagnosed with cerebral
small vessel disease (CSVD).
Methods: The data of hospitalized patients diagnosed with CSVD, including cadence, stride
time, velocity and stride length, as well as information on variability, asymmetry and coordination
during both STW and DTW, were assessed. The number of falls reported by each participant
was also assessed.
Results: A total of 95 CSVD patients were assessed, and the results showed that individuals with
low appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM), which includes both the low ASM group and the
combination of low ASM and high body fat (BF) group, had reduced velocity or cadence, shortened
stride length, and prolonged stride time across all walking modalities compared to the control
group. Only the combination of the low ASM and high BF group exhibited a deterioration in
the coefficient of variation (CV) for all basic parameters and the Phase Coordination Index (PCI)
compared to the control group across all walking patterns. Conversely, patients in the high BF
group displayed a decline in basic parameters, primarily during cognitive DTW. Concurrently,
the high BF group showed a significant increase in the CV and the PCI compared to the control
group only during cognitive DTW. Furthermore, regardless of gender, both ASM and BF independently
correlated with the occurrence of falls.
Conclusions: CSVD patients with varying body compositions could allocate different levels of
attention to their daily walking routines.
