Abstract
IMPORTANCE: Gait speed is a well-known indicator of risk of functional decline and mortality in older adults, but little is known about the factors associated with gait speed earlier in life.
OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that slow gait speed reflects accelerated biological aging at midlife, as well as poor neurocognitive functioning in childhood and cognitive decline from childhood to midlife.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study uses data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-based study of a representative 1972 to 1973 birth cohort in New Zealand that observed participants to age 45 years (until April 2019). Data analysis was performed from April to June 2019.
EXPOSURES Childhood neurocognitive functions and accelerated aging, brain structure, and concurrent physical and cognitive functions in adulthood.