Evidence of fair method ological quality suggests that walking is associated with significant improvements in outcome compared with control interventions but longer-term effectiveness is uncertain .
With the use of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force system , walking can be recommended as an effective form of exercise or activity for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain but should be supplemented with strategies aim ed at maintaining participation .
OBJECTIVE To systematic ally review the evidence examining effects of walking interventions on  pain and self-reported function in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain .
Physical Activity-Related Injuries in Walkers and Runners in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study
Objective To examine the association between  physical activity-related injuries  and participation in walking versus running . Design Nested case-control study . Setting Cooper Clinic Preventive Medicine Center , Dallas , Texas . Participants 5,327 men and women undergoing exams between 1987 and 1995 and completing follow-up health history question naires in 1990 or 1995 . Participants were classified as those reporting regular participation in walking or jogging/running at baseline . Those reporting both or neither activity were excluded from the study ( n = 1404 ) . Cases ( 698 men , 169 women ) were those reporting physical activity-related injuries requiring physician visits in the previous year on the follow-up question naire . Controls ( 2,358 men , 698 women ) were r and omly selected from the remaining population . Main Outcome Measures Logistic regression was used to examine the risk of injury in walkers versus runners and risk of injury by exercise dose while considering age , body mass index , previous injury , and strength training . Results There was a significantly lower risk of injury for walkers compared with runners in young ( < 45 years old ) ( odds ratio [ OR ] = 0.75 , 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] = 0.58–0.97 ) and older ( ≥45 years ) men ( OR = 0.64 , 95 % CI = 0.49–0.82 ) , and a nonsignificantly lower risk among young ( OR = 0.73 , 95 % CI = 0.39–1.37 ) and older women ( OR = 0.72 , 95 % CI = 0.38–1.35 ) . There was no effect of greater amounts of walking on injuries for either gender ; however , there was a higher injury risk associated with running 15–30 min/day ( OR = 1.36 , 95 % CI = 1.07–1.73 ) and 30 + min/day ( OR = 1.52 , 95 % CI = 1.14–2.04 ) compared with < 15 min/day among men , but not among women . Conclusions This low risk of musculoskeletal injury suggests that participation in walking can be safely recommended as a way to improve health and fitness
Evidence of fair method ological quality suggests that walking is associated with significant improvements in outcome compared with control interventions but longer-term effectiveness is uncertain .
With the use of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force system , walking can be recommended as an effective form of exercise or activity for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain but should be supplemented with strategies aim ed at maintaining participation .
OBJECTIVE To systematic ally review the evidence examining effects of walking interventions on  pain and self-reported function in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain .