Norms for Usual and Fast Walking Speed in Adults 45-69 Years Old From the French General Population: Constances Study

Abstract

Objectives: Walking speed (WS) represents an objective measure of motor function and health. We aimed to develop usual (UWS) and fast WS (FWS) norms for the general population using a regression-based approach, while considering age, sex, height, and education.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of a population-based study.

Setting and participants: French Constances study (45-69 years).

Methods: UWS/FWS were measured over 3 m (dynamic start) using photoelectric cells. We addressed selection effects (related to survey sampling and nonresponse) and missing data using a combination of inverse probability weighting (IPW) and multiple imputation (MI). Norms by sex, age, height, and education (<tertiary/≥tertiary) were estimated using a 3-level linear mixed effects model (random effects on center and year) allowing for nonlinear relations that were adjusted for age, sex, height, education, and significant 2-way interactions.

Results: Analyses are based on 44,772 participants (51.2% women) with a mean age of 56.8 years (SE = 0.2) for women and 57.3 years (SE = 0.2) for men, and a mean height of 161.4 cm (SE = 0.1) for women and 174.2 cm (SE = 0.1) for men after IPW/MI. WS estimates decreased after IPW/MI. The mean UWS was 116.9 cm/s (SE = 0.8) in women and 120.7 cm/s (SE = 0.8) in men, and the mean FWS was 168.7 cm/s (SE = 1.0) in women and 182.8 cm/s (SE = 1.2) in men. In the multiadjusted model, UWS/FWS decreased with age and increased with height and education. Men had faster FWS than women; they had slightly slower UWS than women in the low-education group, but there were no sex differences in the high-education group.

Conclusions and implications: We developed UWS/FWS norms by age, sex, height, and education for the French general population (45-69 years) that are available through a web app (https://cesp-proxy2.vjf.inserm.fr/NORMES-VM-EN/). These norms can be used to identify in midlife persons with lower motor performances than the general population, given their age, sex, height, and education, who are at higher risk of adverse outcomes.

Keywords: Walking speed; aging; population; reference values; selection bias.