Commonly measured constructs of mobility included walking , climbing stairs , and lower extremity function .
There was heterogeneity in ways of defining and measuring mobility limitation in older adults living in the community .
Mobility is critical in maintaining independence in older adults .
This study aims to systematic ally review the scientific literature to identify measures of mobility limitation for community-dwelling older adults .
Inflammatory markers and incident mobility limitation in the elderly.
OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between indicators of inflammation and the incidence of  mobility limitation in older persons . DESIGN Prospect i ve cohort study : the Health , Aging and Body Composition Study . SETTING Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , and Memphis , Tennessee . PARTICIPANTS A total of 2,979 men and women , aged 70 to 79 , without mobility limitation at baseline . MEASUREMENTS  Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6 , tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNFalpha ) , and C-reactive protein ( CRP ) and soluble cytokine receptors ( IL-2sR , IL-6sR , TNFsR1 , TNFsR2 )  were measured . Mobility limitation was assessed and defined as reporting difficulty or inability to walk one-quarter of a mile or to climb 10 steps during two consecutive semiannual assessment s over 30 months . RESULTS Of the 2,979 participants , 30.1 % developed incident mobility limitation . After adjustment for confounders ( demographics , prevalent conditions at baseline , body composition ) , the relative risk ( RR ) of incident mobility limitation per st and ard deviation ( SD ) increase was 1.19 ( 95 % confidence interval (CI)=1.10 - 1.28 ) for IL-6 , 1.20 ( 95 % CI=1.12 - 1.29 ) for TNFalpha , and 1.40 ( 95 % CI=1.18 - 1.68 ) for CRP . The association between inflammation and incident mobility limitation was especially strong for the onset of more severe mobility limitation and when the levels of multiple inflammatory markers were high . When persons with baseline or incident cardiovascular disease events or persons who were hospitalized during study follow-up were excluded , findings remained similar . In a subset ( n=499 ) , high levels of the soluble receptors IL2sR and TNFsR1 ( per SD increase : RR=1.23 ( 95 % CI=1.04 - 1.46 ) and RR=1.28 ( 95 % CI=1.04 - 1.57 ) , respectively ) were also associated with incident mobility limitation . CONCLUSION Findings suggest that inflammation is prognostic for incident mobility limitation over 30 months , independent of cardiovascular disease events and incident severe illness
Commonly measured constructs of mobility included walking , climbing stairs , and lower extremity function .
There was heterogeneity in ways of defining and measuring mobility limitation in older adults living in the community .
Mobility is critical in maintaining independence in older adults .
This study aims to systematic ally review the scientific literature to identify measures of mobility limitation for community-dwelling older adults .