TY - JOUR
T1 - Unclean cooking fuel use and slow gait speed among older adults from six countries
AU - Smith, Lee
AU - López Sánchez, Guillermo F
AU - Pizzol, Damiano
AU - Rahmati, Masoud
AU - Yon, Dong Keon
AU - Morrison, Andrew
AU - Samvelyan, Jasmine
AU - Veronese, Nicola
AU - Soysal, Pinar
AU - Tully, Mark A
AU - Butler, Laurie
AU - Barnett, Yvonne
AU - Shin, Jae Il
AU - Koyanagi, Ai
N1 - © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
PY - 2023/4/24
Y1 - 2023/4/24
N2 - BACKGROUND: Outdoor air pollution has been reported to be associated with frailty (including slow gait speed) in older adults. However, to date, no literature exists on the association between indoor air pollution (e.g., unclean cooking fuel use) and gait speed. Therefore, we aimed to examine the cross-sectional association between unclean cooking fuel use and gait speed in a sample of older adults from six low- and middle-income countries (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa).METHODS: Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Unclean cooking fuel use referred to use of kerosene/paraffin, coal/charcoal, wood, agriculture/crop, animal dung, and shrubs/grass based on self-report. Slow gait speed referred to the slowest quintile based on height, age, and sex-stratified values. Multivariable logistic regression and meta-analysis were done to assess associations.RESULTS: Data on 14,585 individuals aged ≥65 years were analyzed [mean (SD) age 72.6 (11.4) years; 45.0% males]. Unclean cooking fuel use (vs. clean cooking fuel use) was significantly associated with higher odds for slow gait speed [OR=1.45 (95%CI=1.14-1.85)] based on a meta-analysis using country-wise estimates. The level of between-country heterogeneity was very low (I2=0%).CONCLUSIONS: Unclean cooking fuel use was associated with slower gait speed among older adults. Future studies of longitudinal design are warranted to provide insight into the underlying mechanisms and possible causality.
AB - BACKGROUND: Outdoor air pollution has been reported to be associated with frailty (including slow gait speed) in older adults. However, to date, no literature exists on the association between indoor air pollution (e.g., unclean cooking fuel use) and gait speed. Therefore, we aimed to examine the cross-sectional association between unclean cooking fuel use and gait speed in a sample of older adults from six low- and middle-income countries (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa).METHODS: Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Unclean cooking fuel use referred to use of kerosene/paraffin, coal/charcoal, wood, agriculture/crop, animal dung, and shrubs/grass based on self-report. Slow gait speed referred to the slowest quintile based on height, age, and sex-stratified values. Multivariable logistic regression and meta-analysis were done to assess associations.RESULTS: Data on 14,585 individuals aged ≥65 years were analyzed [mean (SD) age 72.6 (11.4) years; 45.0% males]. Unclean cooking fuel use (vs. clean cooking fuel use) was significantly associated with higher odds for slow gait speed [OR=1.45 (95%CI=1.14-1.85)] based on a meta-analysis using country-wise estimates. The level of between-country heterogeneity was very low (I2=0%).CONCLUSIONS: Unclean cooking fuel use was associated with slower gait speed among older adults. Future studies of longitudinal design are warranted to provide insight into the underlying mechanisms and possible causality.
KW - Unclean cooking fuel
KW - Pollutants
KW - Indoor air pollution
KW - Gait speed
KW - Older adults
UR - https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/e6b327d9-1e15-4526-af1b-b97169d2e9a8
U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glad109
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glad109
M3 - Article
C2 - 37095600
SN - 1079-5006
JO - Journals of Gerontology, Series A
JF - Journals of Gerontology, Series A
ER -