POS1473-HPR PERFORMANCE OF GAIT SPEED AND CHAIR STAND TEST PERFORMANCE FOR DETERMINING FRAILTY STATUS IN PATIENTS WITH AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS
Authors: Ö. Öztürk, D. Şahin, Ö. Feyzioğlu, N. N. Uzun, Ö. Hakli, F. Saritas, M. E. Tezcan
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2024)

<h3>Background:</h3> Frailty commonly affects the older population, reflecting an increased risk of mortality and negative health outcomes. Individuals with rheumatic diseases may be more prone to frailty due to chronic inflammation, a high risk of comorbidities, and decreased physical capacity. Functional performance tests, such as handgrip strength, gait speed, and chair stand test are associated with all-cause mortality and can have diagnostic value in screening frailty status in the various populations. <h3>Objectives:</h3> To investigate the usefulness and thresholds of gait speed and chair stand test performance in detecting frailty in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). <h3>Methods:</h3> This cross-sectional study included patients with axSpA aged between 40 to 70 years. Fried's criteria were used to categorize participants according to their frailty status, assessing grip strength, gait speed, physical activity level, exhaustion, and weight loss. Gait speed was evaluated with a 4-meter-walk test, and chair stand performance was assessed with Five Times Sit to Stand (FTSTS) test. A handheld dynamometer was used to assess grip strength in the dominant extremity. Physical activity status was determined using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). Receiver operating analysis (ROC) was utilized, with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.70 defined as acceptable, to examine the ability of the gait speed and the FTSTS test to predict frailty assessed by Fried's phenotype. Binary logistic regression was employed to investigate the association of frailty, chair stand test performance, handgrip strength, and gait speed. <h3>Results:</h3> A total of 160 patients (74 men) with an average of 49.18±7.57 years were included. According to Fried's criteria, 69.4 % of them were frail/prefrail. In ROC curves, optimal cut-off scores for gait speed and FTSTS test were ≥5.4 s (area under the curve, 0.76; sensitivity, 65.77 %; specificity, 67.35 %) and ≥14 s (area under the curve, 0.63; sensitivity, 79.31 %; specificity, 42.47 %), respectively (Table 1 and Figure 1). Gait speed (odds ratio [OR] = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.59 – 3.83) and handgrip strength (OR = 0.94, 95 % CI = 0.90 – 0.97) were significantly associated with frailty status determined by Fried's criteria. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> Compared to chair stand test performance, gait speed had a higher diagnostic value for frailty, with a satisfactory performance and an association with frailty status. Gait speed, as a single measure, seems to be a promising first-step frailty screening tool in patients with axSpA. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> [1] White et al. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biomedical Sciences and Medical Sciences. (2013): 456-464. [2] Kim, Miji, and Chang Won Won. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (2022): 1375-1382. [3] Öztürk, Özgül, et al. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases (2023): 519-530. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> <b>NIL.</b> <h3>Disclosure of Interests:</h3> <b>None declared.</b>