Midlife physical activity preserves lower extremity function in older adults: age gene/environment susceptibility-Reykjavik study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the long-term association between midlife physical activity (PA) and lower extremity function (LEF) in late life. DESIGN: Longitudinal study with an average of 25 years of follow-up. SETTING: Community-dwelling old population in Reykjavik, Iceland. PARTICIPANTS: Four thousand seven hundred fifty-three community-dwelling men and women (mean age 76 +/- 6) in Reykjavik, Iceland. MEASUREMENTS: On the basis of weekly hours of regular PA reported at the midlife examination, participants were classified as active or inactive. Measures of LEF in late life were gait speed on a 6-m walk, Timed Up and Go (TUG), and knee extension (KE) strength tests. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the association. RESULTS: Participants who were active in midlife had significantly better LEF (faster gait speed, beta = 0.50, P CONCLUSION: Regular PA in midlife is associated with better performance of LEF in later life, even after controlling for late-life cognitive function. Geriatrics Society