Exercise Training and Walking Speeds in Elderly Women following Hip Surgery ‘Beating the little green man’

Finlay, Olwen

doi:10.1016/s0031-9406(10)60134-4

Cited by 12 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

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“…9, 11 A speed of >1.2 m/s (approximately 4 feet/s) has been used to predict longer life expectancy, 11 and as a threshold speed in pedestrian crosswalk timing – an important aspect of independent living. 15, 24 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Walking Speed Questionnaire

Cong

Cohn

Villa

et al. 2016

Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma

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STRUCTURED ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES The literature increasingly demonstrates the importance of gait speed in the frailty assessment of patients 60 years and older. Conventional gait speed measurement, however, may be contraindicated in settings such as trauma where the patient is temporarily immobilized. We devised a Walking Speed Questionnaire (WSQ) to allow assessment of pre-injury baseline gait speed, in meters per second, in a self-reported manner, to overcome the inability to directly test the patients’ walking speed. DESIGN Four questions comprise the WSQ, and were derived using previously published questionnaires and expert opinion of six physician-researchers. SETTING Four ambulatory clinics. PARTICIPANTS Ambulating individuals aged 60 to 95 (mean age 73.2 ± 8.1, 86.1% female, N = 101). INTERVENTION Participants completed the WSQ and underwent gait speed measurement for comparison. ANALYSIS WSQ score correlation to true gait speed, receiver operating characteristics, and validation statistics were performed. RESULTS All four questions of the WSQ independently predicted true gait speed significantly (P<0.001). The WSQ sufficiently predicted true gait speed with r = 0.696 and ρ = 0.717. CONCLUSION The WSQ is an effective tool for assessing baseline walking speed in patients 60 years and older in a self-reported manner. It permits gait screening in health care environments where conventional gait speed testing is contraindicated due to temporary immobilization, and may be used to provide baseline targets for goal-oriented post-trauma care. Given its ability to capture gait speed in patients who are unable to ambulate, it may open doors for frailty research in previously unattainable populations.

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