Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026
Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults
Published on: February 8, 2019
Exploring effective items of physical function in slow walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation in
Mi-Ji Kim1, Noriko Yabushita, Kiyoji Tanaka
1Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan. mijiak@tmig.or.jp
Aim:
To examine gender differences in regards to the disagreement between walking speed and self-reported mobility limitations, and, furthermore, to explore the items that affect each physical function task by comparing slow walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation in community-dwelling older adults.
Methods:
The subjects consisted of 1381 community-dwelling men and women aged 65-84 years who were classified into four categories according to a combination of mobility status measured by a slow walking speed (usual gait speed < 1.0 m/s) and self-reported mobility limitation (difficulty walking 1 km). The physical function tests comprised one-legged stance, tandem stance, functional reach, tandem walk, alternate step and five chair sit-to-stand.
Results:
The prevalence of limitations increased more rapidly with age in women than in men for five mobility tasks (P < 0.001). The percent difference between slow walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation was higher in women (24%) than men (19%). The multivariate logistic regression model showed that after adjusting for all covariates, the tandem walk, alternate step and five chair sit-to-stand were identified as effective physical function tests in regards to mobility status as measured by the difference between slow walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation (P < 0.01).
Conclusion:
Tandem walk, alternate step and five chair sit-to-stand are important effective items of physical function and permit good comparisons between slow walking speed and self-reported mobility limitation in community-dwelling older adults.
