Abstract
Purpose
Preferred walking speed (PWS) represents a performance measure of mobility in older individuals. PWS is usually assessed during overground (via a 2–40 m walkway) or treadmill walking in older adults. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of treadmill and overground walking on preferred walking speed, spatiotemporal parameters and foot kinematics in healthy, physically active older and young adults after adequate treadmill familiarization.
Methods
PWS and spatiotemporal parameters were assessed during overground (PWSO) and treadmill (PWST) walking using two wearable inertial sensor systems and were compared between 25 older (72.2 ± 4.0, range 66–80 years) and 20 young (24.4 ± 2.1, range 20–30 years) adults.
Results
In the two groups, PWSO (older: 1.45 ± 0.17 m.s−1; young: 1.37 ± 0.16 m.s−1) was significantly faster than PWST (older: 1.31 ± 0.15 m.s−1; young: 1.25 ± 0.17 m.s−1; P < 0.001), with no significant difference between the groups in either walking condition (P = 0.11). The older adults walked with a significantly greater stride frequency (+8%; P ≤ 0.001) and lower plantarflexion angle (−5%; P ≤ 0.001) than the young participants under both walking conditions. In both groups, treadmill walking was characterized by significantly increased stance (+1%; P = 0.02) and double support (+1%; P = 0.04) duration, as well as reduced swing duration (−1%; P = 0.02) and heel-strike pitch angle (−8%; P < 0.001).
Conclusion
Our findings showed that healthy and physically active older and young adults who were adequately familiarized to the treadmill selected a slower PWS on the treadmill than during overground walking with small “safety-related” gait kinematic adaptations. Therefore, treadmill can be used for assessing PWS and gait kinematics in physically active older adults.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- O:
-
Older
- PWS:
-
Preferred walking speed
- PWSO :
-
Overground PWS
- PWST,1 :
-
Treadmill PWS assessed with the procedure proposed by Martin et al. (1992)
- PWST,1bis :
-
Treadmill PWS assessed with the procedure proposed by Martin et al. (1992) at the end of the experimental session
- PWST,2 :
-
Treadmill PWS assessed with the procedure proposed by Nagano et al. (2013; adapted)
- RPE:
-
Rating of perceived effort
- Y:
-
Young
References
Ainsworth BE et al (2011) 2011 Compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Med Sci Sports Exerc 43:1575–1581. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12
Baecke JA, Burema J, Frijters JE (1982) A short questionnaire for the measurement of habitual physical activity in epidemiological studies. Am J Clin Nutr 36:936–942
Bassey EJ, Bendall MJ, Pearson M (1988) Muscle strength in the triceps surae and objectively measured customary walking activity in men and women over 65 years of age. Clin Sci (Lond) 74:85–89
Bland JM, Altman DG (1986) Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1:307–310
Bohannon RW, Williams Andrews A (2011) Normal walking speed: a descriptive meta-analysis. Physiotherapy 97:182–189. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2010.12.004
Borg GA (1982) Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Med Sci Sports Exerc 14:377–381
Boyer KA, Andriacchi TP, Beaupre GS (2012) The role of physical activity in changes in walking mechanics with age. Gait Posture 36:149–153. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2012.02.007
Buchner DM, Cress ME, Esselman PC, Margherita AJ, de Lateur BJ, Campbell AJ, Wagner EH (1996) Factors associated with changes in gait speed in older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 51:M297–M302
Cheneviere X, Malatesta D, Peters EM, Borrani F (2009) A mathematical model to describe fat oxidation kinetics during graded exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41:1615–1625. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31819e2f91
Choi JT, Bastian AJ (2007) Adaptation reveals independent control networks for human walking. Nat Neurosci 10:1055–1062. doi:10.1038/nn1930
Dadashi F, Mariani B, Rochat S, Bula CJ, Santos-Eggimann B, Aminian K (2014) Gait and foot clearance parameters obtained using shoe-worn inertial sensors in a large-population sample of older adults. Sensors 14:443–457. doi:10.3390/s140100443
Dal U, Erdogan T, Resitoglu B, Beydagi H (2010) Determination of preferred walking speed on treadmill may lead to high oxygen cost on treadmill walking. Gait Posture 31:366–369. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.01.006
DeVita P, Hortobagyi T (2000) Age causes a redistribution of joint torques and powers during gait. J Appl Physiol 88:1804–1811
Franz JR (2016) The age-associated reduction in propulsive power generation in walking. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 44:129–136. doi:10.1249/JES.0000000000000086
Franz JR, Kram R (2014) Advanced age and the mechanics of uphill walking: a joint-level, inverse dynamic analysis. Gait Posture 39:135–140. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.06.012
Fritz S, Lusardi M (2009) White paper: “walking speed: the sixth vital sign”. J Geriatr Phys Ther 32:46–49
Himann JE, Cunningham DA, Rechnitzer PA, Paterson DH (1988) Age-related changes in speed of walking. Med Sci Sports Exerc 20:161–166
Hortobagyi T, Rider P, Gruber AH, DeVita P (2016) Age and muscle strength mediate the age-related biomechanical plasticity of gait. Eur J Appl Physiol 116:805–814. doi:10.1007/s00421-015-3312-8
Judge JO, Davis RB 3rd, Ounpuu S (1996) Step length reductions in advanced age: the role of ankle and hip kinetics. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 51:M303–M312
Kerrigan DC, Todd MK, Della Croce U, Lipsitz LA, Collins JJ (1998) Biomechanical gait alterations independent of speed in the healthy elderly: evidence for specific limiting impairments. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 79:317–322
Lee SJ, Hidler J (2008) Biomechanics of overground vs. treadmill walking in healthy individuals. J Appl Physiol 104:747–755. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01380.2006
Malatesta D, Simar D, Dauvilliers Y, Candau R, Borrani F, Prefaut C, Caillaud C (2003) Energy cost of walking and gait instability in healthy 65- and 80-yr-olds. J Appl Physiol 95:2248–2256. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01106.2002
Malatesta D, Simar D, Dauvilliers Y, Candau R, Ben Saad H, Prefaut C, Caillaud C (2004) Aerobic determinants of the decline in preferred walking speed in healthy, active 65- and 80-year-olds. Pflugers Arch 447:915–921. doi:10.1007/s00424-003-1212-y
Malatesta D, Simar D, Ben Saad H, Prefaut C, Caillaud C (2010) Effect of an overground walking training on gait performance in healthy 65-to 80-year-olds. Exp Gerontol 45:427–434. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2010.03.009
Mariani B, Hoskovec C, Rochat S, Bula C, Penders J, Aminian K (2010) 3D gait assessment in young and elderly subjects using foot-worn inertial sensors. J Biomech 43:2999–3006. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.07.003
Marsh AP, Katula JA, Pacchia CF, Johnson LC, Koury KL, Rejeski WJ (2006) Effect of treadmill and overground walking on function and attitudes in older adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38:1157–1164. doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000222844.81638.35
Martin PE, Rothstein DE, Larish DD (1992) Effects of age and physical activity status on the speed-aerobic demand relationship of walking. J Appl Physiol 73:200–206
Mian OS, Thom JM, Ardigo LP, Narici MV, Minetti AE (2006) Metabolic cost, mechanical work, and efficiency during walking in young and older men. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 186:127–139. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.2006.01522.x
Middleton A, Fritz SL, Lusardi M (2015) Walking speed: the functional vital sign. J Aging Phys Act 23:314–322. doi:10.1123/japa.2013-0236
Murray MP, Kory RC, Clarkson BH (1969) Walking patterns in healthy old men. J Gerontol 24:169–178
Nagano H, Begg RK, Sparrow WA, Taylor S (2013) A comparison of treadmill and overground walking effects on step cycle asymmetry in young and older individuals. J Appl Biomech 29:188–193
Owings TM, Grabiner MD (2003) Measuring step kinematic variability on an instrumented treadmill: how many steps are enough? J Biomech 36:1215–1218
Pavei G, Seminati E, Cazzola D, Minetti AE (2017) On the estimation accuracy of the 3D body center of mass trajectory during human locomotion: inverse vs forward dynamics. Front Physiol 8:129. doi:10.3389/fphys.2017.00129
Riley PO, DellaCroce U, Kerrigan DC (2001) Effect of age on lower extremity joint moment contributions to gait speed. Gait Posture 14:264–270
Riley PO, Paolini G, Della Croce U, Paylo KW, Kerrigan DC (2007) A kinematic and kinetic comparison of overground and treadmill walking in healthy subjects. Gait Posture 26:17–24. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2006.07.003
Savelberg HH, Verdijk LB, Willems PJ, Meijer K (2007) The robustness of age-related gait adaptations: can running counterbalance the consequences of ageing? Gait Posture 25:259–266. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2006.04.006
Stenroth L, Sipila S, Finni T, Cronin NJ (2016) Slower walking speed in older men improves triceps surae force generation ability. Med Sci Sports Exerc. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001065
Studenski S (2009) Bradypedia: Is gait speed ready for clinical use? J Nutr Health Aging 13:878–880. doi:10.1007/s12603-009-0245-0
Tesio L, Rota V (2008) Gait analysis on split-belt force treadmills: validation of an instrument. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 87:515–526. doi:10.1097/PHM.0b013e31816f17e1
Van de Putte M, Hagemeister N, St-Onge N, Parent G, de Guise JA (2006) Habituation to treadmill walking. Biomed Mater Eng 16:43–52
Voorrips LE, Ravelli AC, Dongelmans PC, Deurenberg P, Van Staveren WA (1991) A physical activity questionnaire for the elderly. Med Sci Sports Exerc 23:974–979
Wall JC, Charteris J (1981) A kinematic study of long-term habituation to treadmill walking. Ergonomics 24:531–542. doi:10.1080/00140138108924874
Warabi T, Kato M, Kiriyama K, Yoshida T, Kobayashi N (2005) Treadmill walking and overground walking of human subjects compared by recording sole-floor reaction force. Neurosci Res 53:343–348. doi:10.1016/j.neures.2005.08.005
Wass E, Taylor NF, Matsas A (2005) Familiarisation to treadmill walking in unimpaired older people. Gait Posture 21:72–79. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2004.01.003
Watt JR, Franz JR, Jackson K, Dicharry J, Riley PO, Kerrigan DC (2010) A three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic comparison of overground and treadmill walking in healthy elderly subjects. Clin Biomech 25:444–449. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2009.09.002
Zanetti C, Schieppati M (2007) Quiet stance control is affected by prior treadmill but not overground locomotion. Eur J Appl Physiol 100:331–339. doi:10.1007/s00421-007-0434-7
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Pascal Vuilliomenet (EPFL- Vice-Présidence pour l’innovation et la valorisation) for technical support and the subjects for their participation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding
No funding was received for this study.
Additional information
Communicated by Benedicte Schepens.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Malatesta, D., Canepa, M. & Menendez Fernandez, A. The effect of treadmill and overground walking on preferred walking speed and gait kinematics in healthy, physically active older adults. Eur J Appl Physiol 117, 1833–1843 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-017-3672-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-017-3672-3