Reliability of walking speed in podiatric patients

The walking speed of 44 podiatry patients, divided by gender and stratified by age (60–69 and 70+ years), was measured on two occasions, 7 days apart. Infra-red thermal detectors with electronic stop-watches were placed at either end of a 14-m walkway. All subjects wore specially designed cold heat packs to detect heat. They walked along a carpeted walkway at the self-selected speeds of free, slow and fast, wearing a pair of their own shoes. No significant difference in walking speed from one week to the next was found in any of the age groups, except in the 60- to 69-year-old males at free speed (P < 0.01). Walking speeds are shown to be a reliable measure over time, but may differ with age and gender.