The role of gender in gait analysis in the elderly

The purpose of this study was to identify gender-related differences in the gait of functionally independent elderly men and women when walking at self selected walking velocity (SSWV). A quantitative gait analysis was conducted on 59 men (mean age 75.7, SD 5.8, range 69-91 years) and 127 women (mean age 75.2, SD 4.9, range 68-91 years) who could walk independently, regarded themselves to be in good health, and were independent in terms of activities of daily living. The analysis was based on foot placements in the sagittal plane recorded using a video camera. ANO VA gender comparisons revealed significant differences (p -0.0013) in all phases of walking, step length, standing height and knee length, but no significant differences in walking speed. Women were found to take shorter steps at greater frequency than men to attain the same walking velocity. When phase and step length variables were normalized to a percent of each individuals stride time (phase variables) and knee height as a measure of stature (step lengths), there were no significant gender differences. These findings suggest that at SSWV gait differences in older persons are due to stature and not to gender, and that the use of norms which are gender based may be inappropriate. Thus, the gait of elderly men and women walking at SSWV may be analysed together, provided that the step length data are normalized to stature and phase data to stride time