Objectives

To evaluate survival and causes of death in subjects with idiopathic senile gait disorders.

Design

A population-based longitudinal study.

Setting

Survival analysis of the oldest old within the Leiden 85-plus Study.

Participants

We distinguished three different groups according to their gait: subjects with a normal gait (n = 25), subjects with senile gait disorders (n = 14), and subjects with gait disorders due to known disease (n = 87). The mean age was 90 years in all groups (range 87 to 97 years).

Measurements

The risk of all cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality was estimated over 5 years of follow-up in a Cox-proportional hazards model, adjusted for age and sex.

Results

Eighty-nine of 126 subjects died during follow-up. Mean survival differed among the three groups (P log-rank = .01). All cause mortality risk was increased in subjects with senile gait disorders compared with subjects with a normal gait (RR = 2.8; 95% CI, 1.1-7.3, P = .03) and was similar to subjects with gait disorders caused by known disease (RR = 1.2; 95% CI: .6-2.5, P = .6). Mortality caused by cardiovascular disease also differed among the three groups (P log-rank = .03). The risk of cardiovascular death in subjects with senile gait disorders was twofold greater than in subjects with a normal gait (RR = 2.1; 95% CI, 0.4-10.3).

Conclusions

Senile gait disorders are related to subclinical, perhaps cardiovascular, disease. Senile gait disorders should not be accepted as an inevitable, benign concomitant of the normal aging process.