Validation of a self-implemented Walkway system for gait speed measurement in usual clinical care

Objectives: Validation of an infrared healthcare technology aimed at measuring gait speed in older adults. Design: Validation study. Setting: Geriatric Department Participants: 90 patients from the Falls Unit of the Geriatrics Department for the validation assessment, and 5,328 patients of the Outpatient Clinic under usual care conditions for technology validation. Measurements: Walking speed was measured manually with a stopwatch as part of the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), using the GAITRite™ (first, second and mean of 5 walks) and with the Walkway system. Agreement was determined with the Bland-Altman method. Results: Mean gait speed with the SPPB, GAITRite™ (first, second and mean of 5 walks) and Walkway were 0.68 m/s, 0.77 m/s, 0.81 m/s, 0.71 m/s, and 0.70 m/s respectively. Pearson correlations between the Walkway system and SPPB, GAITRite™ first walk, GAITRite™ second walk, and GAITRite™ mean of 5 walks were 0.822 (p < 0.001), 0.810 (p < 0.001), 0.824 (p < 0.001), and 0.811 (p < 0.001) respectively. The mean difference between the Walkway system and SPPB was 0.02 m/s and 95% of the values were between 0.29 and −0.26. Mean difference between Walkway system and GAITRite™ second walk gait speed was −0.11 and 95% values were between 0.17 and −0.38. Mean walking speed in 5382 outpatients was 0.65 m/s (range 0.13–1.43; 95%CI 0.6453–0.6568). No security problems or technical measurement errors were found using the Walkway system. Conclusions: The Walkway system presented is a valid, easy-to-use, self-implemented device for walking speed measurement in usual clinical practice with older adults.