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Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
Meaningful change in measures of gait variability in older adults
Jennifer S Brach1, Subashan Perera, Stephanie Studenski
1Department of Physical Therapy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. jbrach@pitt.edu
Objectives:
Gait variability is an important indicator of impaired mobility in older adults; however, little is known about the meaning of change in gait variability over time. This study estimated clinically meaningful change in measures of gait variability using both distribution- and anchor-based approaches.
Design:
Community-based observational cohort study.
Setting:
Bronx County and the research center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Participants:
Of 1148 participants in the Einstein Aging Study, 241 had quantitative gait assessments in two consecutive years between 2001 and 2005.
Measurements:
Gait variables were collected using a 12-foot instrumented walkway as participants walked at their normal walking speed. Gait variability was defined as the within-person standard deviation (SD) across steps in two 12-foot walks. Distribution-based meaningful change estimates used Cohen's effect size (0.2 for small and 0.5 for moderate effects). Anchor-based estimates were obtained using dichotomous and ordinal self-reported walking ability ratings as anchors.
Results:
Distribution-based estimates for small and substantial changes of variability measures were: stance time 0.005 and 0.014 s; swing time 0.003 and 0.009 s; step length 0.24 and 0.61 cm; and step width 0.03 and 0.08 cm. Among those reporting no change in walking ability, measures of gait variability were stable over 1 year. Among those reporting a decline in walking, stance time and swing time variability increased. Among those reporting an improvement in walking, only step length variability improved.
Conclusion:
Preliminary criteria for meaningful change are 0.01 s for stance time and swing time variability and 0.25 cm for step length variability. These estimates may identify important changes over time in both clinical settings and research studies.
