Thomson Daniel, Liston Matthew, Gupta Amitabh
1School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
2Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences, School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2019 Jul 18;16:11. doi: 10.1186/s11556-019-0219-0. eCollection 2019.
Preferred walking speed is considered an important indicator of health in older adults and is measured on level ground. However, this may not represent the complex demands of community ambulation such as walking on sloped surfaces. Performing a 10 m walk test on a sloped surface is a novel test, and may be a more sensitive measure of walking capacity which may better discriminate age or health-related changes in gait speed compared to a traditional level 10 m walk test. The purpose of this investigation was to determine healthy adults' performance in the 10 m walk test across various inclines and speeds, and which version of the 10 m walk test would be best at discriminating age-related changes in walking speed. Further, this study aimed to determine whether measures of general health and physical activity are associated with the performance of each test.
Healthy Adults ( = 181) aged 20-80 years completed the 10 m walk test on level, downhill and uphill surfaces (8° inclination) at fastest and preferred speeds. Descriptive statistics were calculated for walking speed for males and females across each decade of life. Repeated measures ANOVA was performed to discriminate age-related changes in gait speed by decade, for the 10 m walk test at each speed and slope. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between waist to height ratio, resting heart rate, age and self-reported physical activity upon preferred and fastest walking speeds at each incline (level/downhill/uphill).
The 10 m walk test best discriminated age-related changes in gait speed when performed at fastest speeds on each slope, or at a preferred speed on an uphill slope. Waist to height ratio, age and the physical activity index were all significantly associated with fastest walking speeds over each incline and preferred uphill speed. Only waist to height ratio was associated with preferred walking speed on level and downhill surfaces.
The 10 m walk test has the greatest ability to discriminate age- and health-related changes in gait speed when it is performed at a fastest speed on any slope, or uphill at a preferred speed. The normative data reported in this study may be used to compare the performance of the 10 m walk test to that of healthy adults at preferred and fastest speeds on sloped surfaces.
首选步行速度被认为是老年人健康的重要指标，且是在平地上测量的。然而，这可能无法代表社区行走的复杂需求，比如在斜坡表面行走。在斜坡表面进行10米步行测试是一种新颖的测试，与传统的平地10米步行测试相比，它可能是一种更敏感的步行能力测量方法，能更好地区分与年龄或健康相关的步态速度变化。本研究的目的是确定健康成年人在不同坡度和速度下进行10米步行测试的表现，以及哪种版本的10米步行测试最能区分与年龄相关的步行速度变化。此外，本研究旨在确定一般健康和身体活动的测量指标是否与每项测试的表现相关。
181名年龄在20 - 80岁的健康成年人在平地、下坡和上坡表面（8°倾斜度）以最快和首选速度完成了10米步行测试。计算了各年龄段男性和女性的步行速度描述性统计数据。进行重复测量方差分析，以区分在每种速度和坡度下进行10米步行测试时，按十年划分的与年龄相关的步态速度变化。进行多元线性回归分析，以检验腰高比、静息心率、年龄和自我报告的身体活动与在每个坡度（平地/下坡/上坡）的首选和最快步行速度之间的关联。
当在每个坡度以最快速度进行10米步行测试，或在上坡以首选速度进行测试时，最能区分与年龄相关的步态速度变化。腰高比、年龄和身体活动指数均与每个坡度上的最快步行速度以及首选上坡速度显著相关。只有腰高比与平地和下坡表面的首选步行速度相关。
当在任何坡度以最快速度进行10米步行测试，或在上坡以首选速度进行测试时，该测试区分与年龄和健康相关的步态速度变化的能力最强。本研究报告的标准数据可用于比较在斜坡表面以首选和最快速度进行10米步行测试时健康成年人的表现。
