title: Relationship of clinic-based gait speed measurement to limitations in community-based activities in older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the ability of clinic-based assessments of gait speed to capture limitations in a broad range of home- and community-based activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-based aging cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-residing subjects (N=655; 61% women; age ≥70y; mean, 80.4y).
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Limitations on 3 gait-related activities of daily living (walking inside home, climbing up and down stairs) and 6 motor-based but gait-independent activities (bathing, dressing, getting up from a chair, toileting, shopping, using public transportation).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gait speed was associated with the presence of self-reported difficulty for all 3 home-based activities that were directly gait related and 5 of 6 motor-based activities. Gait speed of 1m/s or less was associated with increased risk for limitations on at least 1 of the 9 selected activities (odds ratio, 3.21; 95% confidence interval, 2.24-4.58; P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gait speed measured in clinical settings has ecologic validity as a clinical marker of functional status in older adults for use in clinical and research settings.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive and Motor Aging, Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. joe.verghese@einstein.yu.edu
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verghese
authors.forename: Cuiling
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Roee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holtzer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics