Walking speed tied to older adults' longevity

Last Updated: 2007-11-30 13:00:42 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who are able to boost their walking speed over time may live longer lives, a study suggests.

The implication is that testing older patients' walking speed could be one simple way to predict long-term health and survival, researchers report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study, of 439 adults age 65 and older, found that those who improved their walking speed over one year were less likely to die over the next eight years.

Just under 32 percent of men and women who improved their pace died during the study period. In contrast, the death rate was nearly 50 percent among those whose walking speed never improved.

The reasons for the findings are not clear, partly because the researchers lacked information on how study participants increased their walking speed -- whether it was by starting a regular exercise routine, or because treatment for a medical condition improved their physical functioning, for instance.

"Further research is needed to determine whether interventions to improve gait speed affect survival," write Dr. Susan E. Hardy of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and colleagues.

The study included older adults who were recruited from two primary care clinics. Over one year, participants had their health and physical functioning assessed every three months. The researchers then tracked their death rates over the next eight years.

Overall, the study found, walking speed during the study's first year was the only factor that predicted participants' long-term survival. Five other measures -- various questionnaires and tests of physical health -- did not.

It's possible, according to Hardy's team, that older adults who were able to boost their walking speed had a "resilience" that allowed them to recover from a previous injury or illness that temporarily slowed them down.

Some might also have taken up exercise, or had their walking ability improve thanks to a medical treatment, the researchers note.

Whatever the reasons, they conclude, the findings do suggest that walking speed could be a good measure of older adults' well-being.

"Because gait speed is easily measured, clinically interpretable, and potentially modifiable," Hardy's team writes, "it may be a useful 'vital sign' for older adults."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, November 2007.