Figure 1.

Changes in walking speed with increasing age. Walking speed with eyes open was measured twice in each of 70 normal subjects: a speed chosen spontaneously by the subject, and the maximum speed of which the subject was capable (Gaitrite walkway system, www.gaitrite.com). Ten persons in each decade were studied (exceptions: 6 persons aged 11–20 and 4 persons aged over 80). The subjects walked a test distance of approximately 14 meters, i.e., one roundtrip to the end of the walkway and back. The temporal and spatial gait parameters were registered for each step. The means and 25th and 75th percentiles are indicated by boxes with a line in the middle, and standard deviations are shown as error bars. (a) The spontaneous speed of gait diminishes slightly with advancing age; (b) the maximum speed diminishes to a more marked extent (data collected by the authors).