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Gait Variability in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults
Author(s) -
Brach Jennifer S.,
Berthold Robert,
Craik Rebecca,
VanSwearingen Jessie M.,
Newman Anne B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2001.49274.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gait , preferred walking speed , physical medicine and rehabilitation , falls in older adults , standard deviation , psychological intervention , gerontology , physical therapy , poison control , injury prevention , statistics , environmental health , mathematics , psychiatry
OBJECTIVES: To describe gait variability at usual and fast walking speeds in community‐dwelling older adults and to describe the effects of increasing gait speed on gait variability. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: The Cardiovascular Health Study at the University of Pittsburgh. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety‐five community‐living older adults, 54 women and 41 men, age 65 and older (mean age ± standard deviation 79.4 ± 3.37). MEASUREMENTS: Gait measured at participant's usual and fast walking speed collected using an instrumented walkway. Step‐length and step‐width variability were determined using the coefficient of variation. CONCLUSIONS: Step‐length and step‐width variability have opposite associations with gait speed in older adults. Improvement in step‐length and step‐width variability with attempted acceleration might be a key factor to examine in future studies of disability risk and therapeutic interventions.