© 1988 Oxford University Press
research-article |
A PROSPECTIVE TRIAL OF SERIAL GAIT SPEED AS A MEASURE OF REHABILITATION IN THE ELDERLY
North Shore Hospital Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland University School of Medicine Auckland
*Present address: Department for the Elderly, Waikato Hospital Private Bag, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Walking speed was measured on admission and then weekly during treatment of 125 subjects admitted to a geriatric rehabilitation ward. Walking speed was strongly related to the ability to stand up from a chair without help. Placement decisions at discharge were made without knowledge of gait speed data so that they could be used as a standard against which to compare walking speed as a valid and practical measure of mobility. It was found that a discharge walking speed of 0.15 m/s best separated immobile subjects who required long-term hospital care from those sufficiently mobile to be discharged home alone or to a rest home (54% versus 0% below cut-off, respectively). Relative walking speed (speed/ height) was no better at predicting placement or mortality than walking speed. Uncorrected walking speed therefore remains the preferred clinical measure of velocity. A serial record showing improvement in walking speed proved useful in predicting eventual independent mobility of poorly mobile subjects. Thus walking speed is an objective yet inexpensive method of monitoring gait rehabilitation.
accepted in revised form October 3, 1987.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  R. D Hansen, D. A Williamson, T. P Finnegan, B. D Lloyd, J. N Grady, T. H Diamond, E. U. Smith, T. M Stavrinos, M. W Thompson, T. H Gwinn, et al. Estimation of thigh muscle cross-sectional area by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in frail elderly patients Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, October 1, 2007; 86(4): 952 - 958. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Kollen, G. Kwakkel, and E. Lindeman Time Dependency of Walking Classification in Stroke Physical Therapy, May 1, 2006; 86(5): 618 - 625. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Kollen, I. van de Port, E. Lindeman, J. Twisk, and G. Kwakkel Predicting Improvement in Gait After Stroke: A Longitudinal Prospective Study Stroke, December 1, 2005; 36(12): 2676 - 2680. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Sherrington and S. R Lord Reliability of simple portable tests of physical performance in older people after hip fracture Clinical Rehabilitation, May 1, 2005; 19(5): 496 - 504. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. H. Rabadi and A. Blau Admission Ambulation Velocity Predicts Length of Stay and Discharge Disposition Following Stroke in an Acute Rehabilitation Hospital Neurorehabil Neural Repair, March 1, 2005; 19(1): 20 - 26. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. F. Signorile, M. P. Carmel, S. J. Czaja, S. S. Asfour, R. O. Morgan, T. M. Khalil, F. Ma, and B. A. Roos Differential Increases in Average Isokinetic Power by Specific Muscle Groups of Older Women Due to Variations in Training and Testing J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., October 1, 2002; 57(10): M683 - 690. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. L. Siegel and L. V. Metman Effects of Bilateral Posteroventral Pallidotomy on Gait of Subjects With Parkinson Disease Arch Neurol, February 1, 2000; 57(2): 198 - 204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. H Freter and N. Fruchter Relationship between timed 'up and go' and gait time in an elderly orthopaedic rehabilitation population Clinical Rehabilitation, January 1, 2000; 14(1): 96 - 101. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. L Wolf, P. A Catlin, K. Gage, K. Gurucharri, R. Robertson, and K. Stephen Establishing the Reliability and Validity of Measurements of Walking Time Using the Emory Functional Ambulation Profile Physical Therapy, December 1, 1999; 79(12): 1122 - 1133. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. Hocking, M. Williams, J. Broad, and J. Baskett Sensitivity of Shah, Vanclay and Cooper's modified Barthel Index Clinical Rehabilitation, February 1, 1999; 13(2): 141 - 147. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. J Baskett, J. B Broad, G. Reekie, C. Hocking, and G. Green Shared responsibility for ongoing rehabilitation: a new approach to home-based therapy after stroke Clinical Rehabilitation, January 1, 1999; 13(1): 23 - 33. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Martin and M. Cameron Evaluation of walking speed and functional ambulation categories in geriatric day hospital patients Clinical Rehabilitation, February 1, 1996; 10(1): 44 - 46. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Burns, J. Black, and B. Martin The effects of chiropody on the gait speed of a frail elderly population Clinical Rehabilitation, May 1, 1992; 6(2): 141 - 143. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Stewart, J. Burns, S. Dunn, and M. Roberts The two-minute walking test: a sensitive index of mobility in the rehabilitation of elderly patients Clinical Rehabilitation, January 1, 1990; 4(4): 273 - 276. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|