Functional Mobility in a Divided Attention Task in Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Motor disorders may occur in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and at early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), particularly under divided attention conditions. We examined functional mobility in 104 older adults (42 with MCI, 26 with mild AD, and 36 cognitively healthy) using the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) under 4 experimental conditions: TUG single task, TUG plus a cognitive task, TUG plus a manual task, and TUG plus a cognitive and a manual task. Statistically significant differences in mean time of execution were found in all four experimental conditions when comparing MCI and controls (p < .001), and when comparing MCI and AD patients (p < .05). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses showed that all four testing conditions could differentiate the three groups (area under the curve > .8, p < .001 for MCI vs. controls; area under the curve > .7, p < .001 for MCI vs. AD). The authors conclude that functional motor deficits occurring in MCI can be assessed by the TUG test, in single or dual task modality.

Keywords:

• functional mobility
• divided attention task
• cognitive impairment

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the team members of the Neuroscience Laboratory (LIM-27) and the postgraduate program in Psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo; their statistical consultant Bernardo dos Santos; and the elders who voluntarily participated in this study.

FUNDING

This study received funding from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).