White Paper: “Walking Speed: the Sixth Vital Sign”

Fritz, Stacy L.; Lusardi, Michelle M.

doi:10.1519/00139143-200932020-00002

Cited by 1,108 publications

(840 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Achieving levels of community ambulation is important for recovery due to the relationship between improved gait speed and improved participation and quality of life. 28,29,47 Gait speed has been termed the sixth vital sign, 48 and therefore, should be monitored among fallers to ensure continued recovery after stroke.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Falls on Motor and Cognitive Recovery after Discharge from In-Patient Stroke Rehabilitation

Wong

Brooks

Inness

et al. 2016

Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Falls on Motor and Cognitive Recovery after Discharge from In-Patient Stroke Rehabilitation

Wong

Brooks

Inness

et al. 2016

Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases

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“…31 Because walking is a complex functional activity that reflects functional and physiologic changes in the body, it can be used to predict falls and the potential need for rehabilitation in community-dwelling older adults. 34 It is best to use walking speed with additional performance measures, such as the MBT, to predict future health status. 35 At the pretest and post-test sessions, participants were timed while they walked a distance of 10 m on a level surface, with 2 m on each side of the marked 10-m distance to allow for acceleration and deceleration.…”

Section: Outcome Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of a Therapeutic Yoga Program on Postural Control, Mobility, and Gait Speed in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Kelley

Aaron

Hynds

et al. 2014

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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Objective: To examine the effects of a 12-week therapeutic yoga program on gait speed, postural control, and mobility in community-dwelling older adults. Design: Quasi-experimental study with a pretest/post-test design. Researchers evaluated changes over time (pretest to post-test) in all outcome measures. Paired t-tests were used to analyze normal and fast gait speed, Timed Up and Go test, and Timed Up and Go Dual Task. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate scores for the Mini-BESTest (MBT). Setting: Yoga classes were performed at a local senior center. Blind examiners who were previously trained in the outcome measures performed all pretests and post-tests at the site. Participants: Thirteen adults (12 women and 1 man, with a mean age -standard deviation of 72 -6.9 years) completed the study. Research participants had minimal to no yoga experience. Interventions: A 12-week, 60-minute, biweekly Kripalu yoga class designed specifically for communitydwelling older adults. Outcome measures: Postural control (MBT), mobility (Timed Up and Go test), and gait speed (normal and fast) were assessed. Results: All 13 participants attended at least 19 of the 24 classes (80% attendance). Statistically significant improvements were seen in the MBT ( p = 0.039), normal gait speed ( p = 0.015), fast gait speed ( p = 0.001), Timed Up and Go test ( p = 0.045), and Timed Up and Go Dual-Task ( p = 0.05). Conclusions: Improvements in postural control and mobility as measured by the MBT and Timed Up and Go gait as measured by fast gait speed indicate that research participants benefitted from the therapeutic yoga intervention. The yoga program designed for this study included activities in standing, sitting, and lying on the floor and may be effective in improving mobility, postural control, and gait speed in community-dwelling older adults.

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“…A dysfunction in any system may slow walking speed. Therefore, walking speed is an important indicator of health status and function and can be used as a 'vital sign' (Fritz and Lusardi 2009;Studenski et al 2011;Taekema et al 2012). It has been shown that walking speed associates with aspects of poor health status or outcomes in older adults, such as mortality (Abellan van Kan et al 2009;Cesari et al 2005;Newman et al 2006;Toots et al 2013), mobility impairment (Newman et al 2006;Purser et al 2005;Rolland et al 2004), falls (Abellan van Kan et al 2009;Montero-Odasso et al 2005), presence of cognitive impairment (Auyeung et al 2008;Camicioli et al 1998), cardiopulmonary diseases (Dumurgier et al 2010;Ilgin et al 2011;Newman et al 2006;Rosano et al 2011), hospitalization, and nursing home placement (van Abellan et al 2009;Cesari et al 2005;Giuliani et al 2008;MonteroOdasso et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Walking speed in elderly outpatients depends on the assessment method

Pasma

Stijntjes

et al. 2014

AGE

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Walking speed is shown to be an important indicator of the health status and function in older adults and part of the comprehensive geriatric assessment in clinical practice. The present study aimed to assess the influence of different assessment methods on walking speed and its association with the key aspects of poor health status, i.e., the presence of low cognitive performance and cardiopulmonary disease. In 288 community-dwelling elderly (mean age 82.2±7.1 years) referred to a geriatric outpatient clinic, walking speed was assessed with the 4-m, 10-m, and 6-min walking tests. The mean walking speed assessed with the 10-m walking test was higher compared to the 4-m and 6-min walking tests (mean difference (95 % CI) 0.11 m/s (0.10; 0.13) and 0.08 m/s (0.04; 0.13), respectively). No significant difference was found in the walking speed assessed with the 4-m compared to the 6-min walking test (mean difference (95 % CI) −0.03 m/s (−0.08; 0.03)). ICCs showed excellent agreement of the 4-m with the 10-m walking test and fair to good agreement of the 6-min with the 4-m as well as 10-m walking test. The presence of low cognitive performance was negatively associated with walking speed, with the highest effect size for the 4-m walking test. The presence of cardiopulmonary disease was negatively associated with walking speed as well, with the highest effect size for the 6-min walking test. In conclusion, in the clinically relevant population of elderly outpatients, walking speed and its interpretation depends on the assessment method, which therefore cannot be used interchangeably in clinical practice.

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White Paper: “Walking Speed: the Sixth Vital Sign”

Cited by 1,108 publications

References 44 publications

The Impact of Falls on Motor and Cognitive Recovery after Discharge from In-Patient Stroke Rehabilitation

The Impact of Falls on Motor and Cognitive Recovery after Discharge from In-Patient Stroke Rehabilitation

The Effects of a Therapeutic Yoga Program on Postural Control, Mobility, and Gait Speed in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Walking speed in elderly outpatients depends on the assessment method

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