Gait speed, handgrip strength, and their combination, and risk of depression in later life: Evidence from a prospective study of community-dwelling older adults

This study investigated the association between gait speed, handgrip strength, and their combination, and the risk for developing clinically relevant depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly study. Participants were community-dwelling older adults in Australia and the United States of America followed for a median (interquartile range) of 3.97 (2.26) years. Baseline handgrip strength and gait speed were used as exposure variables, and their combination categories were also explored. Depression was measured using the modified Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression 10-item scale (CES-D 10). Cox regression was used to estimate Adjusted Hazard Ratios (AHR) with 95 % Confidence Intervals (CI) after adjusting for a range of potential confounders. A total of 17,231 participants (55.3 % women) were included in the analysis. Slow gait and weak grip at baseline were associated with the risk of depression (AHR: 1.20; CI: 1.11–1.29 and 1.14; 1.06–1.23, respectively). The combination of the two physical performance measures was associated with a 31 % increase in the risk of depression (1.31; 1.16–1.47) and a significant dose-response association was observed for quintiles of gait and grip with depression. Although the CES-D 10 is a validated scale, it is a self-reported tool rather than a clinical diagnosis of depression. Low physical function may be a risk factor for depression in older adults. This highlights the inextricable link between the physical and mental health of older adults, which can inform potential clinical and public health prevention strategies for depression in later life. •In this large prospective cohort study, baseline low grip strength and slow gait speed independently predict the risk of depression in later life after adjusting for a range of potential confounders.•Quintiles of the two performance measures and risk of depression were associated in a dose-response pattern.•Older adults exhibiting both weak grip and slow gait were more likely to report depression than those with either weak grip or slow gait alone.•The study showed the inextricable link between the physical and mental health of older adults.•These findings can inform potential clinical and public health prevention strategies for depression in later life.