Research progress on the relationship between gait speed and physical fitness in the elderly
Creators: name: Qin, JingMing
name: Li, Ran
name: Huang, Liyuan
name: Yan, Runsheng
name: Tian, Shumeng
name: Dong, Tianqi
Publisher: name: The Health & Fitness Journal of Canada
Year: 2022

description: Background: Aging is a major problem facing human beings. When the human body enters old age, most elderly people will show a significant decrease in gait speed due to the influence of the body degenerative changes caused by aging. Purpose: By searching domestic and foreign studies on the relationship between strength, balance, stamina, agility and gait speed of the elderly from 2015 to 2021, relevant evidence was obtained, provides a brief summary and update about literature, comprehensive understanding of nearly seven years old pace of research status quo and insufficiency, to improve the physical fitness of the elderly, reduce the risk of falls and fractures, to provide theoretical basis for improving the health level and life quality of the elderly. Methods: In daily life, we often use timed stand up walk test (TUGT), 6min walk test (6MWT), 3M constant pace walking test to judge the body quality of the elderly, which is simple and convenient, and save money and effective. Literature retrieval was conducted from CNKI, Wanfang and PubMed respectively. Inclusion criteria: 1. Gait speed unit is m/s; 2. The target is the elderly; 3. Physical fitness such as strength, balance, stamina and agility; 4. Systematic review or meta-analysis; 5. The period from 2015 to 2021. A total of 1558 related articles were retrieved, and the articles were sorted out and read to write a review. Results: 1. Walking speed is a simple measure of skeletal muscle function. The walking speed of normal adults is about 1.5m/s, and when the walking speed is less than 1.5m/s, the lower limb strength is considered weak. Lower limb muscle strength can also predict gait speed in healthy older adults, with lower limb muscle strength associated with lower gait speed. 2. The decrease of walking speed can reflect the decrease of balance ability, and the age-related balance restriction is related to the decrease of walking speed; A loss of balance can also lead to a decrease in walking speed. 3. Elderly people with good cardiopulmonary endurance can walk for a long time and at a fast pace. 4. Reaction ability requires the coordination of nerve, speed, balance, flexibility and other ability elements to reach a certain level. In the elderly, cell apoptosis leads to loss of spinal motor neurons, increase in the number of circulating cytokines and increase in cellular oxidative function. These age-related changes often lead to the decrease of gait speed, which can also reflect the aging and weakening of the nervous system in the elderly. Conclusions: The study found that strength, balance, stamina, agility and gait speed affect each other. The elderly with good physical fitness have relatively faster gait speed. The elderly with faster gait (fast gait: top 25% of the sample size) had better physical fitness. Gait speed is a useful predictor of falls, hospitalizations, impairments in daily living and survival in the elderly, as well as quality of life, health status and physical function. It is hoped that this simple, rapid and easily measurable gait speed indicator will be popularized and encouraged in clinical and research settings. Funding: No.
description: The Health &amp; Fitness Journal of Canada, Vol. 14 No. 3 (2021): Proceedings from the 8th International Society for Physical Activity and Health Congress