Physical Characteristics of Elderly Persons with Favorable and Poor Walking Speed Adjustments

Abstract

: To examine elderly personsʼ ability to adjust their walking speed, we asked our subjects adopted 3 different walking speeds: normal, slightly fast, and at their maximum speed. The relationships among their ability to adjust their walking speed and physical, attention, cognitive functions were analyzed, dividing the subjects into 2 groups: favorable adjustment: the speed increased as they walk as normal, slightly fast, and at their maximum speed, in this order; and poor adjustment: the speed when walking slightly fast was slower than that when walking as normal or faster than that when walking at the maximum speed. Among the 127 elderly persons, 50 (39.4%) were unable to adjust their walking speed to walk slightly fast. Compared those with poor adjustment, elderly persons with favorable adjustment showed markedly more favorable values when walking slightly fast and at their maximum speed. As there were no significant differences be-tween the groups in physical, attention, or cognitive functions, it may have been difficult for elderly persons with poor adjustment to sufficiently use their functions to adjust their walking speed.