Walking speed (WS) is a valid, reliable, and sensitive measure appropriate for assessing and monitoring functional status and overall health in a wide range of populations. These capabilities have led to its designation as the “sixth vital sign”. By synthesizing the available evidence on WS, this scholarly review article provides clinicians with a reference tool regarding this robust measure. Recommendations on testing procedures for assessing WS, including optimal distance, inclusion of acceleration and deceleration phases, instructions, and instrumentation are given. After assessing an individual’s WS, clinicians need to know what this value represents. Therefore, WS cut-off values and the corresponding predicted outcomes, as well as minimal detectable change values for specific populations and settings are provided.
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- Author: Stacy L. Fritz x
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Addie Middleton, George D. Fulk, Michael W. Beets, Troy M. Herter, and Stacy L. Fritz
Daily ambulatory activity is associated with health and functional status in older adults; however, assessment requires multiple days of activity monitoring. The objective of this study was to determine the relative capabilities of self-selected walking speed (SSWS), maximal walking speed (MWS), and walking speed reserve (WSR) to provide insight into daily ambulatory activity (steps per day) in community-dwelling older adults. Sixty-seven older adults completed testing and activity monitoring (age 80.39 [6.73] years). SSWS (R 2 = .51), MWS (R 2 = .35), and WSR calculated as a ratio (R 2 = .06) were significant predictors of daily ambulatory activity in unadjusted linear regression. Cutpoints for participants achieving < 8,000 steps/day were identified for SSWS (≤ 0.97 m/s, 44.2% sensitivity, 95.7% specificity, 10.28 +LR, 0.58 −LR) and MWS (≤ 1.39 m/s, 60.5% sensitivity, 78.3% specificity, 2.79 +LR, 0.50 −LR). SSWS may be a feasible proxy for assessing and monitoring daily ambulatory activity in older adults.
Ítalo Ribeiro Lemes, Xuemei Sui, Stacy L. Fritz, Paul F. Beattie, Carl J. Lavie, Bruna Camilo Turi-Lynch, and Steven N. Blair
Background: To investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality in men with musculoskeletal conditions. Methods: Participants were 12,728 men (mean age 47.0 [9.3] y) with a history of musculoskeletal conditions (including joint pain, low back pain, stiff joints, arthritis, osteoporosis, or gout) and were followed for all-cause mortality to December 31, 2003. Fitness was quantified by maximal treadmill exercise test and was categorized for analysis as low, moderate, and high performance. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Overall, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for mortality across incremental fitness categories were 1.00 (reference), 0.45 (0.30–0.68) and 0.35 (0.22–0.53), linear trend P < .01 for all-cause, 0.50 (0.23–1.10) and 0.29 (0.12–0.71), linear trend P = .02 for cardiovascular disease, and 0.38 (0.20–0.74) and 0.40 (0.20–0.80), linear trend P = .01 for cancer mortality. Conclusion: Among men with musculoskeletal conditions, higher fitness is associated with lower risk of death by cardiovascular disease, cancer, or any cause, independent of other risk factors.
