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Being able to walk outside for several blocks plays an important role in healthy and vibrant living. Walking short distances allows you to practice the physical activity you need, to live independently, to go shopping, to have access to health care and to participate in social life.
Being able to walk even at low speeds is essential to all of these benefits – but walking too slowly can point to future problems that may prevent you from being totally mobile.
Until now, health care providers had no ideal way to measure their ability to walk because it involved more than just walking speed. It is also about how you manage your environment (such as uneven pavement) and that requires your attention (such as traffic, other pedestrians, and street crossings).
In a new study, researchers evaluated ways to measure complex walking tasks in order to learn about early and subtle changes in walking. Their study was published Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In their study, the researchers examined whether performance on complex walking tasks involving physical and mental difficulties predicted a higher risk of inability to walk a quarter of a mile (about four blocks) . Researchers have suspected that these complex walking tasks are more related to the risk of mobility problems than simple walking.
Researchers looked at information from the Health ABC study on aging and body composition (Health ABC), which included black and white adults in Pittsburgh and Memphis from 1997 to 1998. Participants were between 70 and 79 years old at the time of their entry into the study. difficulty walking a quarter of a mile or climbing 10 steps without rest.
As part of the study, participants took several different paths and faced several challenges in measuring their walking speed and their ability to cope with mental and physical tasks at the same time. The researchers then followed up with participants every six months to see if they were having difficulty walking for a quarter of a kilometer because of a health or physical problem.
Participants reported mobility issues or disabilities each year during site visits. At the end of the eight years of follow-up, more than half of the participants had developed a mobility disability, which prevented them from walking a quarter of a mile. Nearly 40% had developed a chronic mobility disability that lasted at least two years.
Participants who reported having mobility problems were more likely to be women, diabetics, obese, knee pain and breathing difficulties. They also had more symptoms of depression.
The researchers concluded that a low walking speed under habitual and complex pace conditions was badociated with an increased risk of developing a mobility disability over the next eight years.
They also concluded that measuring your walking speed in the health care provider's office could be enough for your provider to know if you were at risk for future mobility problems.
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Material provided by American Geriatric Society. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.
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