Highlights
- •The 4-m gait speed corresponds to the high end of daily-life gait speed.
- •The 4-m gait speed is very weakly correlated with daily-life gait speed.
- •The 4-m and daily-life gait speeds represent different constructs of physical function.
Abstract
Objectives: Standardized tests of gait speed are regarded as being of clinical value,
but they are typically performed under optimal conditions, and may not reflect daily-life
gait behavior. The aim of this study was to compare 4-m gait speed to the distribution
of daily-life gait speed.
Study design: The cross-sectional Grey Power cohort included 254 community-dwelling
participants aged 18 years or more.
Main outcome measures: Pearson’s correlations were used to compare gait speed assessed
using a timed 4-m walk test at preferred pace, and daily-life gait speed obtained
from tri-axial lower-back accelerometer data over seven consecutive days.
Results: Participants (median age 66.7 years [IQR 59.4–72.5], 65.7% female) had a
mean 4-m gait speed of 1.43 m/s (SD 0.21), and a mean 50th percentile of daily-life
gait speed of 0.90 m/s (SD 0.23). Ninety-six percent had a bimodal distribution of
daily-life gait speed, with a mean 1st peak of 0.61 m/s (SD 0.15) and 2nd peak of
1.26 m/s (SD 0.23). The percentile of the daily-life distribution that corresponded
best with the individual 4-m gait speed had a median value of 91.2 (IQR 75.4–98.6).
The 4-m gait speed was very weakly correlated to the 1st and 2nd peak (r = 0.005,
p = 0.936 and r=0.181, p = 0.004), and the daily-life gait speed percentiles (range: 1st percentile r = 0.076,
p = 0.230 to 99th percentile r = 0.399, p < 0.001; 50th percentile r = 0.132, p = 0.036).
Conclusions: The 4-m gait speed is only weakly related to daily-life gait speed. Clinicians
and researchers should consider that 4-m gait speed and daily-life gait speed represent
two different constructs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 07, 2018
Accepted:
December 6,
2018
Received in revised form:
December 5,
2018
Received:
October 22,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
