Jack M. Guralnik, MD, PhD, MPH

Selected Publications in Five Areas of Interest:

Developing and validating mobility loss as an important outcome in older men and women.

1. Guralnik JM, LaCroix AZ, Abbott RD, Berkman LF, Satterfield S, Evans DA, Wallace RB. Maintaining mobility in late life. I. Demographic characteristics and chronic conditions. Am J Epidemiol 1993;137:845-857.
2. Guralnik JM, Fried LP, Simonsick EM, Kasper JD, Lafferty ME, eds. The Women's Health and Aging Study: Health and Social Characteristics of Older Women with Disability. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Aging, 1995; NIH Pub. No. 95-4009.
3. Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L, Balfour JL, Volpato S, Di Iorio A. Progressive versus catastrophic loss of the ability to walk: Implications for the prevention of mobility loss. J Am Geriatr Soc 2001;49:1463-1470.
4. Satariano WA, Guralnik JM, Jackson RJ, Marottoli RA, Phelan EA, Prohaska TR. Mobility and aging: new directions for public health action. Am J Public Health 2012;102:1508-1515.

Development and validation of the Short Physical Performance Battery as an objective measure of functional performance.

1. Guralnik JM, Simonsick EM, Ferrucci L, Glynn RJ, Berkman LF, Blazer DG, Scherr PA, Wallace RB. A short physical performance battery assessing lower extremity function: Association with self-reported disability and prediction of mortality and nursing home admission. J Gerontol Med Sci 1994;49:85-94.
2. Guralnik JM, Ferrucci L, Simonsick EM, Salive ME, Wallace RB. Lower extremity function in persons over the age of 70 years as a predictor of subsequent disability. N Engl J Med 1995;332:556-561.
3. Guralnik JM, Ferrucci F, Pieper CF, Leveille SG, Markides KS, Ostir GV, Studenski S, Berkman LF, Wallace RB. Lower extremity function and subsequent disability: Consistency across studies, predictive models, and value of gait speed alone compared to the short physical performance battery. J Gerontol Med Sci 2000;55:221-231.
4. Penninx BWJH, Ferrucci L, Leveille S, Rantanen T, Pahor M, Guralnik JM. Lower extremity function in non-disabled older persons as a predictor of subsequent hospitalization. J Gerontol Med Sci 2000;55:691-697

Establishing the benefits of physical activity in older people.

1. LaCroix AZ, Guralnik JM, Berkman LF, Wallace RB, Satterfield S. Maintaining mobility in late life. II. Smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and body mass index. Am J Epidemiol 1993;137:858-869.
2. The LIFE Study Investigators. Effects of a physical activity intervention on measures of physical performance: Results of the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders pilot (LIFE-P) study. J Gerontol Med Sci 2006;61:1157-1165.
3. Espeland MA, Gill TM, Guralnik JM, Miller ME, Fielding R, Newman AB, Pahor M and for the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Study Group. Designing clinical trials of interventions for mobility disability: Results from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Pilot (LIFE-P) Trial. J Gerontol Med Sci 2007;62:1237-1243.
4. Pahor M, Guralnik JM, Ambrosius WT, Blair S, Bonds DE, Church TS, Espeland MA, Fielding RA, Gill TM, Groessl EJ, King AC, Kritchesvsky SB, Manini TM, McDermott MM, Miller ME, Newman AB, Rejeski WJ, Sink KM, Williamson JD, LIFE Study investigators. Effect of structured physical activity on prevention of major mobility disability in older adults: the LIFE study randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2014;311:2387-2396.
5. Sink KM, Espeland MA, Castro CM, Church T, Cohen R, Dodson JA, Guralnik J, Hendrie HC, Jennings J, Katula J, Lopez OL, McDermott MM, Pahor M, Reid KF, Rushing J, Verghese J, Rapp S, Williamson JD; LIFE Study Investigators. Effect of a 24-Month Physical Activity Intervention vs Health Education on Cognitive Outcomes in Sedentary Older Adults: The LIFE Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2015;314:781-90.

6. Gill TM, Guralnik JM, Pahor M, Church T, Fielding RA, King AC, Marsh AP, Newman AB, Pellegrini CA, Chen SH, Allore HG, Miller ME; LIFE Study Investigators.  Effect of Structured Physical Activity on Overall Burden and Transitions Between States of Major Mobility Disability in Older Persons: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized, Controlled Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Sep 27. doi: 10.7326/M16-0529. [Epub ahead of print]

Establishing that anemia is common and associated with functional decline in older men and women.

1. Guralnik JM, Eisenstaedt RS, Ferrucci L, Klein HG, Woodman RC. Prevalence of anemia in persons 65 years and older in the United States: Evidence for a high rate of unexplained anemia. Blood 2004; 104:2263-2268.
2. Penninx BW, Guralnik JM, Wallace RB, Pahor M. Anemia and decline in physical performance among older persons. Am J Med 2003;115:104-110.
3. Penninx BWJH, Pahor M, Woodman RC, Guralnik JM. Anemia in old age is associated with increased mortality and hospitalization. J Gerontol Med Sci 2006;61:474-479.
4. Patel KV, Harris TB, Faulhaber M, Angleman SB, Connelly S, Bauer DC, Kuller LH, Newman AB, Guralnik JM. Racial variation in the relationship of anemia with mortality and mobility disability among older adults. Blood 2007;109:4663-4670.

Socioeconomic status and disability outcomes in older persons

1. Guralnik JM, Land KC, Blazer D, Fillenbaum GG, Branch LG. Educational status and active life expectancy in older blacks and whites. N Engl J Med 1993;329:110-116.
2. Melzer D, Izmirlian G, Leveille SG, Guralnik JM. Educational differences in the prevalence of mobility disability in old age: the dynamics of incidence, mortality, and recovery. J Gerontol Sci Soc Sci 2001;56:S294-S301.
3. Coppin AK, Ferrucci L, Lauretani F, Phillips C, Chang M, Bandinelli S, Guralnik JM. Low socioeconomic status and disability in old age: evidence from the InChianti study for the mediating role of physiological impairments. J Gerontol Med Sci 2006;61:86-91.
4. Minkler M, Fuller-Thomson E, Guralnik JM. Gradient of disability across the socioeconomic spectrum in the United States. N Engl J Med 2006;355:695-703.

Dr. Guralnik's primary areas of interest in the epidemiology of aging include the study of physical functioning and disability, the benefits of physical activity, the prevalence and impact of multiple co-existing chronic conditions, factors associated with healthy aging, methods of assessment of health and functional status, and trends in demographic and health status characteristics of the older population. He has published over 700 journal articles and book chapters in these areas of aging research and has taught and lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad.

In addition to his work at the University of Maryland he has active, ongoing research collaborations with Dr. Mary McDermott at Northwestern University, Dr. Marco Pahor at the University of Florida, Dr. Lydia Bazzano at Tulane University, Dr. Viki Zunzunegui at the University of Montreal, Dr. Caterina Rosano at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lawrence Appel at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Dr. Sarah Szantoin at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.