Optimal Distance for Normal Gait Speed Testing

Walking speed tests are powerful health screening tools, but variation in protocols present different diagnostic cutoffs. What distance for a gait speed test validly represents overall gait speed is unknown. To determine the optimal testing distance that represents overall gait speed. Vitals and measurements were taken from participants and were instructed to walk at their normal gait speed for 20m through Brower timing gates at every 5m. Speeds from 0-5m, 5-10m, and 10-20m were compared using a mixed effect model. The average speed for 0-5m segment was 1.361 m/s, 5-10m was 1.449 m/s, and the 10-20m average speed was 1.467 m/s. Comparing 0-5m to 5-10m, the estimated difference was 0.088 m/s with a 95% CI between 0.062-0.079 m/s with a p-value < 0.0001. Comparing 0-5m to 10-20m, the estimated difference was 0.106 m/s with a p-value of