Prediction of walking speed using single stance force or pressure measurements in healthy subjects

Walking speed is one of the best measures of overall walking capacity. In plantar pressure measurements, walking speed can be assessed using contact time, but it is only moderately correlated with walking speed. The center of pressure might be of more value to indicate walking speed since walking speed alters foot loading. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess walking speed using the velocity of the center of pressure (VCOP). Thirty-three subjects walked over a Footscan pressure plate at three speed conditions; slow, preferred, and fast. Walking speed was measured by a motion analysis system. (Multiple) linear regression analysis was used to indicate the relation between walking speed and independent variables derived from the pressure plate such as mean VCOP and stance time for all walking conditions separately and together. The mean VCOP had the highest correlation coefficient value with walking speed for all walking conditions combined (0.94) and for the preferred walking condition (0.80). The multiple regression analysis, based on a number of additional parameters, revealed a small to modest increase in the performance of predicting walking speed (r=0.98 for combined and r=0.93 for preferred). The mean VCOP was the best predictor for walking speed when using a plantar pressure plate. The mean VCOP predicts the walking speed with a 95% accuracy of 0.20m/s when healthy subjects walk at their preferred walking speed.