Mahoney Jeannette R, Verghese Joe, George Claudene
Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive & Motor Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.
Brain Sci. 2021 Feb 25;11(3):285. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11030285.
(1) Background: one out of every four adults over the age of 65 are living with diabetes, and this alarming rate continues to increase with age. Diabetes in older adults is associated with many adverse health outcomes, including sensory and motor impairments. The objective of this exploratory study was to determine whether diabetes influences the interplay between multisensory integration processes and mobility in aging. (2) Methods: in this cross-sectional observational study, we recruited 339 non-demented older adults (76.59 ± 6.21 years; 52% female, 18% with diabetes). Participants completed a simple reaction time test in response to visual, somatosensory, and combined visual-somatosensory stimulation. Magnitude of visual-somatosensory integration was computed and served as the independent variable. (3) Results: logistic regression revealed that presence of diabetes was inversely associated with the magnitude of visual-somatosensory integration (β = -3.21; < 0.01). Further, mediation models revealed that presence of diabetes negatively influenced the relationship of visual-somatosensory integration magnitude with balance (95% CI -0.16, -0.01) and gait (95% CI -0.09, -0.01). Participants with diabetes and taking insulin ( = 14) failed to integrate sensory information entirely; (4) conclusions: taken together, results from this exploration provide compelling evidence to support the adverse effect of diabetes on both multisensory and motor functioning in older adults.
（1）背景：65岁以上的成年人中，每四人就有一人患有糖尿病，而且这一惊人的比例随着年龄的增长持续上升。老年人患糖尿病与许多不良健康后果相关，包括感觉和运动障碍。这项探索性研究的目的是确定糖尿病是否会影响衰老过程中多感官整合过程与行动能力之间的相互作用。（2）方法：在这项横断面观察性研究中，我们招募了339名无痴呆的老年人（76.59±6.21岁；52%为女性，18%患有糖尿病）。参与者完成了一项针对视觉、体感以及视觉 - 体感联合刺激的简单反应时间测试。计算视觉 - 体感整合的程度，并将其作为自变量。（3）结果：逻辑回归显示，糖尿病的存在与视觉 - 体感整合程度呈负相关（β = -3.21；<0.01）。此外，中介模型显示，糖尿病的存在对视觉 - 体感整合程度与平衡（95%CI -0.16，-0.01）和步态（95%CI -0.09，-0.01）之间的关系产生负面影响。患有糖尿病且正在使用胰岛素的参与者（n = 14）未能完全整合感觉信息；（4）结论：综上所述，这项探索的结果提供了有力证据，支持糖尿病对老年人多感官和运动功能的不利影响。
