The Minimum Number of Strides Required for Reliable Gait Measurements in Older Adult Fallers and Non-Fallers

Abstract

While the value of walking gait metrics collected using pressure-sensing walkways has shown promise for fall risk assessment, there is no consensus on the minimum number of strides required to obtain reliable metrics. This study aimed to determine the minimum stride count required for reliable single-task (ST), dual-task (DT), and difference score (DS) measurements of the spatio-temporal parameters of gait in older adult fallers and non-fallers. Forty community-dwelling older adults (74.6 ± 3.5 years) performed 10 ST and 10 DT walking passes (~100 strides total) across a GAITRite™ pressure mat. Nine truncated datasets (1-9 passes) were created from the original for each walking condition to assess agreement using two-way random effects, absolute agreement, and single-rater intraclass correlations (ICCs). ICCs demonstrated that a minimum of one pass (~10 strides) is sufficient for reliable mean gait metrics for ST and DT conditions and 10-30 strides for DS, while 10-80 strides are needed for reliable gait variability measures, depending on the metric. This study provides stride count recommendations to ensure reliable gait measurement in older adult populations, highlighting that as few as 10-30 strides are necessary for mean metrics, while variability metrics may require up to 80 strides to ensure reliability.

Keywords: GAITRite; difference score; dual-task; fallers; gait; gait reliability; minimum strides; older adults.

Figure 1

Intraclass correlations for single-task gait variability metrics in fallers and non-fallers displaying variability for Panel (A): step and stride length; Panel (B): base of support and stride width; Panel (C): cadence, stride time, swing % of cycle and swing time; and Panel (D): stride velocity and velocity. ICC values represent the comparison between each truncated dataset (1–9 pass) vs. the complete 10-pass dataset.

Figure 2

Intraclass correlations for dual-task gait variability metrics in fallers and non-fallers displaying variability for Panel (A): step and stride length, Panel (B): base of support and stride width, Panel (C): cadence, stride time, swing % of cycle and swing time, and Panel (D): stride velocity and velocity. ICC values represent the comparison between each truncated dataset (1–9 pass) vs. the complete ten-pass dataset.

Figure 3

Intraclass correlations for difference score gait variability metrics in fallers and non-fallers displaying variability for Panel (A): step and stride length; Panel (B): base of support and stride width; Panel (C): cadence, stride time, swing % of cycle and sing time; and Panel (D): stride velocity and velocity.