The Walking Speed Questionnaire: Assessing Walking Speed in a Self-reported Format

OBJECTIVES:The literature increasingly demonstrates the importance of gait speed (GS) in the frailty assessment of patients aged 60 years and older. Conventional GS measurement, however, maybe contraindicated in settings such as trauma where the patient is temporarily immobilized. We devised a Walking Speed Questionnaire (WSQ) to allow assessment of preinjury baseline GS, in meters per second, in a self-reported manner, to overcome the inability to directly test the patientsʼ walking speed. DESIGN:Four questions comprise the WSQ, and were derived using previously published questionnaires and expert opinion of 6 physician-researchers. SETTING:Four ambulatory clinics. PARTICIPANTS:Ambulating individuals aged 60–95 (mean age, 73.2 ± 8.1 years, 86.1% female, n = 101). INTERVENTION:Participants completed the WSQ and underwent GS measurement for comparison. ANALYSIS:WSQ score correlation to true GS, receiver operating characteristics, and validation statistics were performed. RESULTS:All 4 questions of the WSQ independently predicted true GS significantly (P < 0.001). The WSQ sufficiently predicted true GS with r = 0.696 and ρ = 0.717. CONCLUSIONS:The WSQ is an effective tool for assessing baseline walking speed in patients aged 60 years and older in a self-reported manner. It permits gait screening in health care environments where conventional GS testing is contraindicated due to temporary immobilization and maybe used to provide baseline targets for goal-oriented post-trauma care. Given its ability to capture GS in patients who are unable to ambulate, it may open doors for frailty research in previously unattainable populations. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:Diagnostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.