Prognostic Value of Usual Gait Speed in Well‐Functioning Older People—Results from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study

Abstract

Usual gait speed of less than 1 m/s identifies persons at high risk of health-related outcomes in well-functioning older people. Provision of a clinically meaningful cutpoint for usual gait speed may facilitate its use in clinical and research settings.

A study on the relationship between muscle function, functional mobility and level of physical activity in community-dwelling elderly

“…These results demonstrate the importance of measuring FWS, an objective measure that requires from 2 to 5 min and has been well-accepted by professionals and patients, in the routine clinical evaluation of active, community-dwelling elderly patients. It should also be considered that impaired mobility is associated with a reduction of muscle strength and power, disability and dependency in performing activities of daily living 8,10,32,35 .…”

“…The test was performed on a 10m track, but the speed was only recorded from the middle 6m to avoid acceleration and deceleration bias. The average of two attempts was used for analysis 8,17 .…”

“…A Jamar  hydraulic hand dynamometer (Sammons Preston Rolyan, Bolingbrook, Illinois), which allows objective, reliable, safe and effective grip and pinch strength evaluation, was used to evaluate HG 16 . Habitual Walking Speed (HWS) and Fast Walking Speed (FWS) were measured with the Multisprint  kit for computerized evaluation of physical performance, which consists of reflectors and photoelectric cells that are connected to a computer running Multisprint  software 8,17 . LPA was obtained via self-reported performance on the Human Activity Profile (HAP) questionnaire, which is a valid, reliable instrument that has been translated and culturally adapted for the Brazilian population 18 and allows the classification of subjects as either active, moderately active or inactive.…”

“…Associations between measures of muscle mass and function, level of physical activity (LPA) and functional mobility have been established in older adults, demonstrating that slow walking speed and reduced handgrip strength (HG) can identify those with reduced lower-limb muscle strength and power, limitations and functional decline [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . Although it has been well-established in the literature that there are reductions in muscle function and LPA concomitant with aging, the best clinical parameter for screening reduced lower-limb muscle strength and power in the elderly has not yet been determined.…”

Walking speed in elderly outpatients depends on the assessment method

“…Therefore, walking speed is an important indicator of health status and function and can be used as a 'vital sign' (Fritz and Lusardi 2009;Studenski et al 2011;Taekema et al 2012). It has been shown that walking speed associates with aspects of poor health status or outcomes in older adults, such as mortality (Abellan van Kan et al 2009;Cesari et al 2005;Newman et al 2006;Toots et al 2013), mobility impairment (Newman et al 2006;Purser et al 2005;Rolland et al 2004), falls (Abellan van Kan et al 2009;Montero-Odasso et al 2005), presence of cognitive impairment (Auyeung et al 2008;Camicioli et al 1998), cardiopulmonary diseases (Dumurgier et al 2010;Ilgin et al 2011;Newman et al 2006;Rosano et al 2011), hospitalization, and nursing home placement (van Abellan et al 2009;Cesari et al 2005;Giuliani et al 2008;MonteroOdasso et al 2005). Cut-off values for walking speed are used for the prediction of aforementioned health outcomes and underpin clinical decision making.…”