Association of adults with, or at risk of, knee osteoarthritis (OA) who walked < 1.3 m/s at the 12-month follow-up visit and were defined as adequate sustainers, slow sustainers, adequate decliners, and slow decliners using a 20-m walk test to the risk of all-cause mortality over 11 years (n = 1798).
| Slow Declinersa | Adequate Declinersb | Slow Sustainersc | Adequate Sustainersd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample size, n | 439 | 139 | 751 | 469 |
| Walking speed, m/s, mean ± SD | ||||
| At study enrollment (baseline) | 1.24 ± 0.15 | 1.42 ± 0.09 | 1.07 ± 0.14 | 1.21 ± 0.09 |
| At 12-month follow-up visit | 1.06 ± 0.15 | 1.25 ± 0.23 | 1.10 ± 0.11 | 1.26 ± 0.02 |
| Change over 1 yr | –0.19 ± 0.11 | –0.16 ± 0.08 | 0.03 ± 0.08 | 0.05 ± 0.09 |
| Deaths, % (n) | 11.6 (51) | 3.6 (5) | 11.7 (88) | 5.3 (25) |
| Unadjusted HR (95% CI) | 2.43 (1.50–3.92) | 0.66 (0.25–1.73) | 2.35 (1.51–3.67) | 1.00 (Ref) |
| Adjusted HR (95% CI)e | 2.06 (1.26–3.38) | 0.56 (0.19–1.61) | 1.96 (1.24–3.09) | 1.00 (Ref) |
↵a Slow decliners walked < 1.22 m/s at 12-month follow-up and had ≥ 0.08 m/s annual decline in walking speed.
↵b Adequate decliners walked ≥ 1.22 m/s at 12-month follow-up and ≥ 0.08 m/s annual decline in walking speed.
↵c Slow sustainers walked < 1.22 m/s at 12-month follow-up visit and < 0.08 m/s annual decline in walking speed.
↵d Adequate sustainers walked ≥ 1.22 m/s at 12-month follow-up and < 0.08 m/s annual decline in walking speed.
↵e Adjusted for baseline age, BMI, sex, race, education, comorbidities, the presence of depression (≤ vs ≥ 16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), and symptomatic knee OA (yes or no; defined as presence of Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥ 2 on radiograph in 1 or both knees, and pain, aching, or stiffness on most days of a month during the previous year).