During a doctor’s appointment, there are some steps that get an expert quickly up-to-date on our current health, such as measuring blood pressure and checking our BMI (Body Mass Index). Now, a study published in the Journal of the American Association (JAMA) says that it could be very useful to add one more indicator to this list: measuring how fast we walk.
“ A really key predictor of mortality is gait speed, ” says Christina M. Dieli-Conwright, a research assistant professor in USC’s Division of Biokinesiology and Physiotherapy and a co-author of the paper.
Research shows that the faster we walk, the healthier we’ll be. Cardiac surgeons have proposed using this indicator as a way to identify patients who may have difficulty recovering from surgery, according to JAMA. There is also evidence that it could alert doctors to health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and cognitive deficiencies.
While doctors aren’t using it as a marker yet, researchers like Dieli-Conwright are using it. She is currently investigating how exercise can affect outcomes for breast cancer survivors, with a focus on gait speed.
“The idea is that the sicker someone is, whether from cancer treatment or another disease condition, they lose strength and lose the ability to move,” he said. “ Imagine if that person did not exercise. They would be more affected by chemotherapy, which would end up tying them to the bed, ” says Dieli-Conwright.
Reducing the speed in our way of walking is not something trivial. “It’s not just a little bit, it goes from being able to walk to go to the bathroom to barely being able to get out of bed,” he said, in the case of cancer patients.
Walking speed and biological age
Along these lines, doctors could use gait speed to help determine a person’s biological age, which can be younger or younger than their chronological age , according to the JAMA report.
The lesson from this study is not intended to start walking faster today, as there is no evidence to show that increased walking speed impacts health, but it is important to pay attention to how physically active we are.
In the study, people who habitually walked fast had better health outcomes than those who walked slowly. If the gait slows down, especially if it is significantly, it could indicate an underlying condition.
In conclusion, it adds more weight to the importance of walking and staying active regardless of age.
“Something as simple as a walking program can be conducive to maintaining overall health,” concludes Dieli-Conwright.
Some are of the opinion that the average walking speed locally should also be taken into account. Does each area have a different rhythm? Could it be related to the average temperature and humidity in the area?
Reference: Matteo Cesari. Role of Gait Speed in the Assessment of Older Patients, JAMA (2011). DOI: 10.1001 / jama.2010.1970
