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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
The reliability and validity of measures of gait variability in community-dwelling older adults
Jennifer S Brach1, Subashan Perera, Stephanie Studenski
1Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. jbrach@pitt.edu
Objective:
To examine the test-retest reliability and concurrent validity of variability of gait characteristics.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Research laboratory.
Participants:
Older adults (N=558) from the Cardiovascular Health Study.
Interventions:
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures:
Gait characteristics were measured using a 4-m computerized walkway. SD determined from the steps recorded were used as the measures of variability. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to examine test-retest reliability of a 4-m walk and two 4-m walks. To establish concurrent validity, the measures of gait variability were compared across levels of health, functional status, and physical activity using independent t tests and analysis of variances.
Results:
Gait variability measures from the two 4-m walks demonstrated greater test-retest reliability than those from the single 4-m walk (ICC=.22-.48 and ICC=.40-.63, respectively). Greater step length and stance time variability were associated with poorer health, functional status and physical activity (P<.05).
Conclusions:
Gait variability calculated from a limited number of steps has fair to good test-retest reliability and concurrent validity. Reliability of gait variability calculated from a greater number of steps should be assessed to determine if the consistency can be improved.
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