Cystatin C and measures of physical function in elderly adults: the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (HABC) Study.

Most studies of the relation between kidney function and physical function have been conducted in persons with advanced kidney disease and have used creatinine-based measures of kidney function. Cystatin C concentration is a measure of kidney function that is independent of muscle mass, unlike creatinine. Using baseline data on 3,043 elderly adults from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study (Blacks and Whites recruited from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee, in 1997-1998), the authors examined the cross-sectional association between cystatin C level and performance on several tests of physical function. After adjustment for demographic and lifestyle variables, chronic health conditions, and inflammation, each standard-deviation (0.34 mg/liter) increase in cystatin C concentration was associated with 1.32 odds (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20, 1.46) of not completing a 400-m walk, a 10.9-second (95% CI: 8.1, 13.8) slower 400-m walk time, a 0.11-point (95% CI: 0.09, 0.13) reduction in lower extremity performance score, a 1.12-kg (95% CI: 0.83, 1.40) lower grip strength, and a 4.7-nm (95% CI: 3.5, 5.9) lower knee extension strength. In contrast, when kidney function was measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate, the association of kidney function with physical function was only evident below 60 ml/minute/1.73 m2. In these older adults, mild decrements in kidney function, as measured by cystatin C concentration, were associated with poorer physical function.