Biomarkers · Anthropometric

Gait Speed

Higher values go with lower risk of death. Not measured in our NHANES panel. The curve is drawn from the published study (source below).

Gait Speed and risk of death

Published curve higher than the NHANES fitNHANES fit higher

Risk of death relative to the curve's reference value, drawn from the published study (source below).

Published risk of death0.88×per 0.1 m/s faster gait speed (95% CI 0.87–0.90) · Pooled individual data from 9 cohorts, community-dwelling adults aged >=65 (mean 73.5 y), followed 6 to 21 years

Gait Speed across cohorts

0.50.670.81HR per SD (95% CI)

CRELES · Costa Rica, 60+2,102 people · 274 deaths0.62 0.51–0.74

HRS · United States, 50+13,344 people · 6,593 deaths0.70 0.68–0.72

CHARLS · China, 50+5,346 people · 1,273 deaths0.75 0.68–0.82

Risk-of-death ratio per standard deviation, adjusted for age and sex, within each cohort. Cohorts differ in age range, assay, measurement protocol and follow-up, and one SD is a different amount in each, so the comparison is of direction and rough size per SD, not per unit. Vertical line: no association.

Gait Speed by age and sex

Each bar runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile, the darker part from the 25th to the 75th, and the tick is the median. Not a reference range or a target.

The percentiles as a table

Each row is one sex and age band: the values below which 5%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% of people fall (m/s), from the survey named in the row. Not a reference range or a target.
Sex	Age	5th	25th	Median	75th	95th	n	Cycle / source
All	50-59	0.77	0.98	1.12	1.26	1.45	1,096	NHANES 1999-2002
All	60+	0.49	0.77	0.95	1.11	1.35	2,862	NHANES 1999-2002
All	all	0.57	0.85	1.03	1.19	1.40	3,958	NHANES 1999-2002
Men	50-59	0.80	0.99	1.13	1.25	1.46	551	NHANES 1999-2002
Men	60+	0.53	0.83	1.00	1.14	1.35	1,430	NHANES 1999-2002
Men	all	0.63	0.90	1.05	1.21	1.40	1,981	NHANES 1999-2002
Women	50-59	0.71	0.97	1.12	1.27	1.45	545	NHANES 1999-2002
Women	60+	0.47	0.74	0.91	1.08	1.35	1,432	NHANES 1999-2002
Women	all	0.51	0.81	1.00	1.17	1.41	1,977	NHANES 1999-2002

What studies found when this marker was changed

They describe what happened in those study groups, not a recommendation. See all catalogued interventions.

Measured changes in Gait Speed, study by study

4 effects with a numeric size, each from one study arm: the dot is the reported change, the line its 95% interval where one was given. Green points move the marker the way lower risk of death lies; amber the other way. Study results in the groups studied, not predictions for a person.

Each row is one study: what was changed, the effect it reported on this marker, and the source.
Type	Intervention	Reported effect	Evidence	Source
exercise	Combined resistance and balance training, with or without nutritional supplementation, in older adults with sarcopenia (median 12 weeks)	Usual gait speed improved by 0.16 m/s vs usual care (moderate certainty; MID 0.1 m/s)	meta-analysis	Shen Y, Shi Q, Nong K, et al. Exercise for sarcopenia in older people: A…
exercise	Motor-cognitive training programmes in people with Parkinson's disease	Dual-task gait speed improved by 0.12 m/s (95% CI 0.08-0.17) vs controls (high-certainty evidence)	meta-analysis	Johansson H, Folkerts AK, Hammarström I, et al. Effects of motor-cognitive…
exercise	Ten individual 25-min physiotherapy sessions plus group therapy over 14 days in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease	Dual-task gait speed improved 8.3% with physiotherapy and 4.2% with treadmill training over 14 days	RCT	Gaßner H, Trutt E, Seifferth S, et al. Treadmill training and physiotherapy…
exercise	Low-load (40% 1RM) resistance training with blood flow restriction in ischaemic stroke survivors	Mean gait speed change +0.19 m/s with BFR training vs +0.12 m/s with high-intensity resistance training (difference not significant)	RCT	Ahmed I, Mustafaoglu R, Erhan B. The effects of low-intensity resistance…

Sources

Risk curve: Studenski S 2011 (PMID 21205966): all-cause HR 0.88 (0.87-0.9) per 0.1 m/s faster gait speed. Scaled to US values (NHANES).
Studenski S, Perera S, Patel K, Rosano C, Faulkner K, Inzitari M, et al. Gait speed and survival in older adults. JAMA. 2011;305(1):50-58.

Map Gait Speed against another biomarker.

Map Gait Speed against another marker