Gait speed and neurocognition among older people with and without HIV.

OBJECTIVE

Examine the associations of gait speed with global and domain-specific neurocognition in older people with HIV (PWH) versus people without HIV (PWoH).

METHODS

Participants included 285 PWH and 214 PWoH 50 years and older (Mage = 60.1, SD age = 7.1) who completed a gait examination and a comprehensive neurocognitive assessment.

RESULTS

Gait speed was significantly slower in PWH ( M = 3.3 s, SD = 1.1) than PWoH ( M  = 3.0 s, SD  = 0.9; P  = 0.006). Slower gait speed was significantly associated with poorer global neurocognition ( β = -0.17, P  = 0.009) and deficits in multiple neurocognitive domains, including verbal fluency, executive functioning, processing speed, and motor skills, after adjusting for sociodemographic, HIV-related, and medical characteristics in PWH. A significant interaction between gait speed and HIV status emerged for verbal fluency, suggesting differential cognitive impacts ( β = -0.45, P  = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight nuanced relationships between gait speed and neurocognition, emphasizing the need for longitudinal research to establish causal mechanisms and potential clinical screening approaches.