Timed limb coordination performance is associated with walking speed in healthy older adults: A cross-sectional exploratory study

Walking speed reflects quality of life, health status and physical function in older adults but interpreting measures of walking speed is affected by several confounders such as gender, age and height. Additionally, walking speed is influenced by neurologic conditions that impair limb coordination. In absence of defined pathology, it is less clear how varying levels of limb coordination influence walking speed. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between limb coordination and walking speed in older adults, controlling for effects of gender, age and height. Sixty-nine healthy, community-dwelling individuals over the age of 60 participated in the study. Participants completed a battery of timed upper and lower limb coordination tests. Normal and fast walking speed were measured over the inner six meters of a 10 m walkway. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between limb coordination performance and walking speed. Controlling for gender, age and height, variance in normal walking speed was accounted for by variance in pronation-supination performance (partial r = −0.396, partial r2 = 0.16) and variance in fast walking speed was accounted for by variance in finger-to-nose performance (partial r = −0.356, partial r2 = 0.13). The findings support our hypothesis that limb coordination performance would correlate with walking speed in healthy older adults. Moreover, limb coordination performance attenuated the effects of gender, age and height on walking speed. Limb coordination may be a modifiable determinant of walking speed in older adults.

► We studied correlations among limb coordination and walking speed in older adults, controlling for gender, age and height. ► Normal and fast walking speed correlated with pronation-supination and finger-to-nose performance, respectively. ► Limb coordination performance attenuated the effects of gender, age and height on walking speed. ► Gender, age and height are confounding variables when one interprets the meaningfulness of walking speed.