Safety, Feasibility, and Reliability of the Maximal Step Length, Gait Speed, and Chair Test Measured by Seniors Themselves: The Senior Step Study

Abstract

Self-management of mobility and fall risk might be possible if older adults could use a simple and safe self-test to measure their own mobility, balance, and fall risk at home. The aim of this study was to determine the safety, feasibility, and intraindividual reliability of the maximal step length (MSL), gait speed (GS), and chair test (CT) as potential self-tests for assessing mobility and fall risk. Fifty-six community-dwelling older adults performed MSL, GS, and CT at home once a week during a four-week period, wherein the feasibility, test-retest reliability, coefficients of variation, and linear mixed models with random effects of these three self-tests were determined. Forty-nine subjects (mean age 76.1 years [SD: 4.0], 19 females [42%]) completed the study without adverse effects. Compared with the other self-tests, MSL gave the most often (77.6%) valid measurement results and had the best intraclass correlation coefficients (0.95 [95% confidence interval: 0.91-0.97]). MSL and GS gave no significant training effect, whereas CT did show a significant training effect (p < .01). Community-dwelling older adults can perform MSL safely, correctly, and reliably, and GS safely and reliably. Further research is needed to study the responsiveness and beneficial effects of these self-tests on self-management of mobility and fall risk.

Feasibility of repeated self-measurements of maximum step length and gait speed by community-dwelling older persons

“…A limitation of this study was the possible selection bias 22. Compared to the non-participating individuals, the Senior Step Study population did show a good overall performance in mobility making it difficult to generalise the observed ability of repeatedly self-assessing MSL and GS to a more frailer population.…”

“…Instructions were given a maximum of three times, and the researcher judged whether the participant and caregiver were able to execute the self-tests correctly and safely. If the participants and/or caregivers were not able to perform the self-tests independently, the participant was excluded 22. After 1 month, the researcher revisited the participant and their informal caregiver and asked them to execute the self-tests.…”

“…A full description of the errors in self-testing mobility seen by the researchers was described previously 22. Feasibility of repeatedly measuring MSL and GS was explored by looking at the median and quartiles of the number of weekly measurements.…”

“…In our previous research, we already showed that MSL and GS are safe, feasible and reliable self-assessment tools of mobility and fall risk for community-dwelling older persons 22. However, research on repeatedly measuring MSL and GS over a longer period of time is still lacking.…”

“…[19][20][21] In our previous research, we already showed that MSL and GS are safe, feasible and reliable self-assessment tools of mobility and fall risk for community-dwelling older persons. 22 However, research on repeatedly measuring MSL and GS over a longer period of time is still lacking. Therefore, the current exploratory study primarily investigated the feasibility of repeatedly measuring MSL and GS by community-dwelling older persons for a 6-month period, but also how MSL and GS changed during this period, whether these changes were related to experiencing a fall and what the implications of these results are in the field of self-management research in older persons.…”