Gait speed and survival in older adults

Stephanie Studenski, Subashan Perera, Kushang Patel, Caterina Rosano, Kimberly Faulkner, Marco Inzitari, Jennifer Brach, Julie Chandler, Peggy Cawthon, Elizabeth Barrett Connor, Michael Nevitt, Marjolein Visser, Stephen Kritchevsky, Stefania Badinelli, Tamara Harris, Anne B. Newman, Jane Cauley, Luigi Ferrucci, Jack Guralnik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2217 Scopus citations

Abstract

Context: Survival estimates help individualize goals of care for geriatric patients, but life tables fail to account for the great variability in survival. Physical performance measures, such as gait speed, might help account for variability, allowing clinicians to make more individualized estimates. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between gait speed and survival. Design, Setting, and Participants: Pooled analysis of 9 cohort studies (collected between 1986 and 2000), using individual data from 34 485 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or older with baseline gait speed data, followed up for 6 to 21 years. Participants were a mean (SD) age of 73.5 (5.9) years; 59.6%, women; and 79.8%, white; and had a mean (SD) gait speed of 0.92 (0.27) m/s. Main Outcome Measures: Survival rates and life expectancy. Results: There were 17 528 deaths; the overall 5-year survival rate was 84.8% (confidence interval [CI],79.6%-88.8%)and 10-year survival ratewas59.7%(95%CI,46.5%-70.6%). Gait speed was associated with survival in all studies (pooled hazard ratio per 0.1 m/s, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.87-0.90; P

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)50-58
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of the American Medical Association
Volume305
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 5 2011
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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