Abstract
Objective
To determine if poorer gait variability and gait coordination among mobility-limited
older adults is related to their slower walking speed.
Design
Cross-sectional analysis.
Setting
University research laboratory.
Participants
Community-dwelling adults (N=69) 68 years or older with (Short Physical Performance
Battery score ≤9; n=37) and without (n=32) mobility limitations.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
The variability of step length, swing time percent, and step width. Gait coordination
was assessed along with the Phase Coordination Index.
Results
The usual pace gait speed of those without mobility limitations was faster (1.22±0.14m/s
vs 0.71±0.14m/s; P<.001) and less variable in all gait characteristics (all P<.001), with the exception of step width (P=.185), than those with limitations. When those without limitations slowed their walking
pace (0.71m/s±0.14), their gait coordination became poorer (P<.001), and the variability of all gait characteristics increased (all P<.001) except for step width, which decreased (P=.002). When those without mobility limitations walked at a slow pace, they had better
gait coordination (P=.008) and less variable step length (P=.014) and swing time percent (P=.036). The variability of stride time (P=.260) and step width (P=.385) were not significantly different than that of their peers with limitations.
Conclusions
Increased variability in some gait characteristics of mobility-limited older adults
appears to be related to their slower walking speed. Gait coordination and the variability
of step length and swing time percent may reflect intrinsic differences in mobility-limited
older adults that are independent of walking speed.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
PCI (Phase Coordination Index), SPPB (Short Physical Performance Battery)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 13, 2020
Footnotes
Supported by the National Institute on Aging (grant no. K01AG053461 to E.J.; grant no. R01AG041525-05 to S.L.) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant no. K24HD070966-04 to J.B.).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
