Gait Variability in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: To describe gait variability at usual and fast walking speeds in community-dwelling older adults and to describe the effects of increasing gait speed on gait variability. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. SETTING: The Cardiovascular Health Study at the University of Pittsburgh. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-five community-living older adults, 54 women and 41 men, age 65 and older (mean age ± standard deviation 79.4 ± 3.37). MEASUREMENTS: Gait measured at participant's usual and fast walking speed collected using an instrumented walkway. Step-length and step-width variability were determined using the coefficient of variation. CONCLUSIONS: Step-length and step-width variability have opposite associations with gait speed in older adults. Improvement in step-length and step-width variability with attempted acceleration might be a key factor to examine in future studies of disability risk and therapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]