Gait speed differences for 20, 400-meter walk in OA consistent with older populations
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Among patients with radiographic knee osteoarthritis, the important difference in gait speed is between 4.1 and 6.9 meters per minute for the 20-meter walk, and between 2.9 and 6.9 meters per minute for the 400-meter walk, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.
“This is the first article to look at important differences in gait speed among adults with rheumatic disease who may have pain and stiffness that interferes with function,” Abigail L. Gilbert, MD, MSCI, of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told Healio Rheumatology. “This allows us to know how to interpret change in gait speed in adults with knee osteoarthritis in clinical studies to determine if the change is significant.”
To examine the important differences in gait speed among adults with radiographic knee OA, Gilbert and colleagues analyzed public data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a multicenter prospective natural history study of the development of OA. According to the researchers, the initiative included data on 4,796 individuals aged between 45 and 79 years who have, or are at high risk for, symptomatic radiographic OA. For their own study, Gilbert and colleagues analyzed 2,527 participants with radiographic knee OA.
The researchers evaluated functional performance as measured by gait speed, using 20- and 400-meter walk tests. These tests were completed by the participants at their self-selected usual pace at baseline and at 2-year follow-up. The researchers used both distribution-based methods and anchor-based methods used to determine the important differences in gait speed. For the anchor-based methods, Gilbert and colleagues used chair stand rate and self-reported function to estimate gait speed differences related to physical function.
According to the researchers, the distribution-based important difference estimates for the 20meter walk ranged from 4.1 to 6.4 meters per minute, and from 2.9 to 6.5 meters per minute for the 400meter walk. Prevalent, cross-sectional anchor-based estimates for the 20meter walk ranged from 5.4 to 6.9 meters per minute, and from 3 to 6.9 meters per minute for the 400meter walk. The longitudinal anchor-based estimates were determined to be unreliable.
However, combining the distribution-based and prevalent anchor-based methods demonstrated an important gait speed difference between 4.1 and 6.9 meters per minute for the 20meter walk, and between 2.9 and 6.9 meters per minute for the 400meter walk.
“Findings from this study provide benchmarks for assessing and understanding functional performance outcomes such as gait speed among individuals with knee osteoarthritis,” Gilbert said. “These importance differences can be used as references to design future studies to assess function in individuals with arthritis who are at elevated risk for decline in function. This will ultimately help us ensure that physical activity interventions lead to clinically significant improvement.” – by Jason Laday
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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