Quantitative and qualitative criteria for assessing gait speed in women aged 60–75 years – A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: The use of the Gait Speed (GS) test in clinical practice has been documented in many scientific studies. However, there is a lack of tools to use the aforementioned test for diagnosis and follow-up of changes in the process of health training in postmenopausal women. Having considered the foregoing, the main objective of this study was to develop quantitative and qualitative criteria to assess gait speed in women aged 60–75 years. Material and methods: Sixty women aged 60–75 years participated in the study. The structure of the gait speed rating scale was based on Zaciorski's model. The data collected during the GS test was analyzed. We developed quantitative and qualitative criteria to assess gait speed in women over the age of 60, which ranged from 1.25 m/s to 2.3 m/s. Results and conclusions: The scale presented in this study can constitute an effective tool to help estimate the level of gait speed in women aged 60–75 years, which is particularly important in coaching practice during diagnostics and programming of physical activity.