Master's and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
BMC Public Health. 2013 Feb 28;13:182. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-182.
Gait speed is a strong predictor of a wide range of adverse health outcomes in older adults. Mean values for gait speed in community-dwelling older adults vary substantially depending on population characteristics, suggesting that social, biological, or health factors might explain why certain groups tend to self-select their gait speed in different patterns. The vast majority of studies reported in the literature present data from North American and European populations. There are few population-based studies from other regions with a different ethnicity and/or social and health conditions. To address this, the present study identified the mean usual and fast gait speeds in a representative multiracial population of community-dwelling older adults living in a developing country, and explored their association with sociodemographic, mental and physical health characteristics.
This was a cross-sectional population-based study of a sample of 137 men and 248 women, aged 65 years and over. Usual gait speed and fast gait speed were measured on a 4.6 m path. Participants were classified into slow, intermediate, and faster groups by cluster analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the independent effect of each factor on the odds of presenting with a slower usual and slower fast gait speeds.
Participants had a mean (SD) usual gait speed of 1.11 (0.27) m/s and a mean fast gait speed of 1.39 (0.34) m/s. We did not observe an independent association between gait speed and race/ethnicity, educational level, or income. The main contributors to present a slower usual gait speed were low physical activity level, stroke, diabetes, urinary incontinence, high concern about falling, and old age. A slower fast gait speed was associated with old age, low physical activity, urinary incontinence and high concern about falling.
A multiracial population of older adults living in a developing country showed a similar mean gait speed to that observed in previously studied populations. The results suggest that low physical activity, urinary incontinence and high concern about falling should not be neglected and may help identify those who might benefit from early intervention.
步速是老年人多种健康不良结局的强有力预测指标。在社区居住的老年人中，步速的平均值因人口特征而有很大差异，这表明社会、生物或健康因素可能解释了为什么某些群体倾向于以不同的模式自我选择步速。文献中报告的绝大多数研究都来自北美和欧洲的人群。来自其他地区、具有不同种族和/或社会及健康状况的人群的基于人群的研究较少。为了解决这一问题，本研究确定了生活在发展中国家的代表性多种族社区居住老年人的平均常速和快速步速，并探讨了它们与社会人口学、精神和身体健康特征的关系。
这是一项横断面基于人群的研究，样本包括 137 名男性和 248 名 65 岁及以上的女性。在 4.6 米的路径上测量常速和快速步速。参与者通过聚类分析分为慢、中、快三组。使用逻辑回归分析估计每个因素对呈现较慢常速和较慢快速步速的几率的独立影响。
参与者的平均（SD）常速为 1.11（0.27）m/s，快速步速为 1.39（0.34）m/s。我们没有观察到步速与种族/民族、教育水平或收入之间存在独立的关联。呈现较慢常速的主要因素是低身体活动水平、中风、糖尿病、尿失禁、高度担心跌倒和高龄。较慢的快速步速与高龄、低身体活动、尿失禁和高度担心跌倒有关。
生活在发展中国家的多民族老年人具有与先前研究人群相似的平均步速。结果表明，不应忽视低身体活动、尿失禁和高度担心跌倒，这可能有助于识别那些可能受益于早期干预的人群。
