Sex-specific differences in gait patterns of healthy older adults: Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

Abstract

The effects of normal aging and orthopedic conditions on gait patterns during customary walking have been extensively investigated. Empirical evidence supports the notion that sex differences exist in the gait patterns of young adults but it is unclear as to whether sex differences exist in older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate sex-specific differences in gait among older adults. Study participants were 336 adults (50 – 96 years; 162 women) enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) who completed walking tasks at self-selected speed without assistance. After adjusting for significant covariates, women walked with higher cadence (p = 0.01) and shorter stride length (p = 0.006) compared to men, while gait speed was not significantly related to sex. Women also had less hip range of motion (ROM; p = 0.004) and greater ankle ROM (p < 0.001) in the sagittal-plane, and greater hip ROM (p = 0.004) in the frontal-plane. Hip absorptive mechanical work expenditure (MWE) of the women was greater in the sagittal-plane (p < 0.001) and lower in the frontal-plane (p < 0.001), compared to men. In summary, women’s gait is characterized by greater ankle ROM than men while men tend to have greater hip ROM than women. Characterizing unique gait patterns of women and men with aging may be beneficial for detecting the early stages of gait abnormalities that may lead to pathology.

The effect of aging on gait parameters in able-bodied older subjects: a literature review

“…Elders limit momentum in locomotor activities to decrease their risk of falling, but are apparently unable to control lateral momentum during gait Aging Clin Exp Res speed than men, but Ko su et al reported, while gait speed reduced in older subjects, but it was not significantly related to sex [41]. However, only one study stated, there were no significant differences in walking speed, step length, or cadence between the older and young adults [28].…”

“…Six studies showed hip, knee, and ankle ROM to be lower in older age [33,38,[41][42][43][44]. Begg [33] and also the peak hip extension was 20.4 ± 4.0°for young adults versus 14.3 ± 4.4°for the elderly [43].…”

Gait analysis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review

“…Till still debated in the scientific community, in principle one cannot be unaware that sex-specific differences were observed in kinematic and kinetic gait patterns among groups of elderly individuals [48,49]. Since such differences concern spatiotemporal parameters (and related variability) that were found to be sensitive to the presence of COPD, comparing severely unbalanced cohorts without correcting for the gender effect might have played an additional role in increasing the sources of bias.…”

A Review of Selected Factors Affecting Gait Symmetry

“…Usually, women walk slower and with shorter pace than men [57,59]. Also, previous studies have reported a significant difference between the sexes in terms of kinematic gait characteristics, including the range of motion in hip and ankle joints [60], as well as other parameters such as the mechanical energy of joints [59]. Accordingly, due to the morphological differences between two sexes, one can expect differences in the gait symmetry characteristics.…”