Ask Dr. Nick
On today’s episode, Dr. Nick talks about how walking (gait) speed is an important measure of health in the elderly. Vital signs are those basic measures that indicate health like heart rate, breath rate, temperature, blood pressure, and height/weight. These are taken at each routine check up with your doctor. There is evidence that gait speed should also be checked routinely because significant improvements can indicate better health and decrease mortality risk. In the article discussed, it was shown that walking speed improvement over 1 year was the only predictor of improved mortality risk in the elderly. This was compared to other questionnaires of physical and mental health, which did not predict mortality. We have always been told that walking is good for health, but maybe only fast walking can be beneficial. Check out the video for more in depth information on how walking with a purpose can improve your absolute risk of mortality by 17.7%!
Reference: Hardy SE, Perera S, Roumani YF, Chandler JM, Studenski SA. Improvement in usual gait speed predicts better survival in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55(11):1727-1734.
