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Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Clinical Assessment of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters in Patients and Older Adults
Published on: November 7, 2014
Strength, Static Balance, Physical Activity, and Age Predict Maximal Gait Speed in Healthy Older Adults From a Rural
Silvia Aranda-García1, Albert Busquets, Antoni Planas
1School of Health and Sports Science, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain and the Health and Applied Sciences Department, INEFC-Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Purpose:
Gait speed is related to physical function in older adults. This cross-sectional study examined the best predictors of maximal gait speed (MGS) among physical abilities, and general factors in healthy, rural community-dwelling older adults.
Methods:
MGS, muscle strength, and postural sway were measured in 55 community-dwelling participants (age, 72.1 ± 6.8, range 61-87 years; 72.7% women). Two stepwise regressions were used to find MGS predictors in two models: physical abilities and global.
Results:
Strength of knee extensors with 60° of knee flexion (KStrength60°) and maximal distance in the anterior-posterior direction with eyes closed explained 50.2% of MGS variance (p < .05) in the physical abilities model. KStrength60°, age, and level of physical activity explained 63.9% of MGS variance (p < .05) in the global model.
Conclusions:
Regardless of the model, KStrength60° was the best predictor of MGS in rural female older adults. Future research should examine the generalization of these findings to rural male older adults.
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