Gait Speed Seems to Predict Body Balance in Elderly Women

Abstract

Objectives:

Determine the influence of body fat distribution, functional capacity, gait speed, and peak oxygen uptake on body balance of elderly women.

Methods:

Prospective clinical trial: at a university medical center. The sample consisted of 41 healthy elderly women aged from 61 to 77 years-old (68.1 ± 0.7 years). Body fat distribution was assessed by subcutaneous central body adiposity and waist girth. Functional capacity was determined by time taken to move from seated to standing position (TSSP) and time to tie sneakers. Gait speed was assessed by the time to walk 3.33 m. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) was measured during cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Body balance was assessed by the time to maintain an unipodal position during 30 seconds.

Results:

There were no significant prediction power for subcutaneous central body adiposity (adjusted R2=.01; P =.471), waist girth (adjusted R2=.01; P =.355), TSSP (adjusted R2=.04; P=.107), time to tie sneakers (adjusted R2 =.01; P = .413) or VO2peak (adjusted R2=.03; P = .747) with body balance. Nevertheless, it was observed that the time to walk 3.33 m significantly predicted the body balance (adjusted R2 =.08; P = .047).

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that gait speed seems to be an important variable to predict body balance in elderly women. The prediction power of this association was very low, but appears to be a biological phenomenon because their impact was significant even in this small sample size.