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© 1997 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Comfortable and maximum walking speed of adults aged 20—79 years: reference values and determinants
School of Allied Health, U-101, University of Connecticut Storrs CT 06269, USA and Department of Rehabilitation, Hartford Hospital. Hartford, CT. USA Fax (+ 1) 860 233 0609
OBJECTIVES:: to establish reference values for both comfortable and maximum gait speed and to describe the reliability of the gait speed measures and the correlation of selected variables with them.
DESIGN:: descriptive and cross-sectional.
METHODS:: subjects were 230 healthy volunteers. Gait was timed over a 7.62 m expanse of floor. Actual and height normalized speed were determined. Lower extremity muscle strength was measured with a hand-held dynamometer.
RESULTS:: mean comfortable gait speed ranged from 127.2 cm/s for women in their seventies to 146.2 cm/s for men in their forties. Mean maximum gait speed ranged from 174.9 cm/s for women in their seventies to 253.3 cm/s for men in their twenties. Both gait speed measures were reliable (coefficients 0.903) and correlated significantly with age (r
– 0.210). height (r0.220) and the strengths of four measured lower extremity muscle actions (r = 0.190-0.500). The muscle action strengths most strongly correlated with gait speed were nondominant hip abduction (comfortable speed) and knee extension (maximum speed).
CONCLUSIONS:: these normative values should give clinicians a reference against which patient performance can be compared in a variety of settings. Gait speed can be expected to be reduced in individuals of greater age and of lesser height and lower extremity muscle strength.
Keywords: goit, measurement, muscle strength
Received September 18, 1996;
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