title: Quantifying the cadence of free-living walking using event-based analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Free-living walking occurs over a wide range of durations and intensities (cadence). Therefore, its characterisation requires a full description of the distribution of duration and cadence of these walking events. The aim was to use event-based analysis to characterise this in a population with intermittent claudication (IC) and a healthy matched control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven-day walking activity was recorded using the activPAL activity monitor in a group of people with IC (n=30) and an age-matched control group (n=30). The cadence, number of steps and duration of individual walking events were calculated and outcomes were derived, and compared (p<0.05), based on thresholds applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both groups had similar number of walking events per day (392±117 vs 415±160). The control group accumulated a greater proportion of their walking at higher cadences and 32% of their steps were taken at a cadence above 100 steps/min, for the IC group this was 20%. Longer walking events had higher cadences and the IC group had fewer of these. As walking events became longer the cadence increased but the inter-event cadence variability decreased. More purposeful walking might occur at a higher cadence, and be performed at a preferred cadence. Individuals with IC had a smaller volume of walking, but these differences occurred almost entirely above a cadence of 90 steps/min.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study which has quantified the cadence of continuous periods of free-living walking. The characteristics (duration, number of steps and cadence) of all the individual walking events were used to derive novel outcomes, providing new insights into free-living walking behaviour.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, UK. Electronic address: m.h.granat@salford.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Granat
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK. Electronic address: c.z.clarke@dundee.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert, UK. Electronic address: richard.holdsworth@nhs.net.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holdsworth
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK. Electronic address: ben.stansfield@gcu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stansfield
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK. Electronic address: philippa.dall@gcu.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dall
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D056044:Actigraphy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Accelerometry; Intermittent claudication; Physical activity; Stepping rate