How Fast You Walk May Predict How Long You Live, Two New Studies of Thousands of Older Adults Suggest

How fast older adults walk may offer a simple clue about how long they will live, according to two new studies that add to growing evidence linking walking to longevity.

The research, published in October in JAMA Network Open and the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined walking speed and walking patterns among tens of thousands of older adults in the United Kingdom.

Walking speed and survival

The first study, published Oct. 23 in JAMA Network Open, followed 4,067 adults in the U.K. who were about 69 years old on average. The participants were part of the long-running Whitehall II study of British civil servants.

Participants completed a short walking test at their normal pace in a clinic. They also wore a wrist activity tracker for nine days to measure how quickly they walked during everyday life.

Researchers then followed them for nearly 12 years. During that period, 739 participants died.

Faster walking, whether measured in the clinic or in daily life, was linked to a lower risk of death, even after researchers accounted for other health and lifestyle factors.

The researchers also found that a higher walking cadence was associated with lower mortality. Ten extra steps per minute was linked to a lower risk of death.

The researchers said walking speed is a simple measure that could help doctors identify which older patients need closer attention.

Walking patterns matter too

The second study, published Oct. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed data from more than 33,000 older adults in the UK Biobank. The participants averaged fewer than 8,000 steps a day and had no cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

Researchers examined how participants accumulated their steps and the relationship to heart problems and death, finding that the way people walked during the day, including longer bouts of walking, was associated with health outcomes.

The 'sixth vital sign'

Walking speed has long been considered an important health indicator. Some health professionals call it the "sixth vital sign" because it reflects how well many body systems work together.

Walking briskly requires strong legs, a healthy heart and lungs, good balance and a brain and nervous system that can coordinate movement, according to Beth Templin, a board-certified geriatric clinical specialist in St. Louis who was not involved in the research.

A decline in walking speed can be an early warning sign that one of those systems is weakening, sometimes before problems show up in lab tests, she said.

Supporting earlier research

The findings are consistent with earlier research. In a pooled analysis of more than 34,000 older adults, each 0.1-meter-per-second increase in walking speed was associated with a 12% lower risk of death.

A separate study published in August, which followed more than 5,000 adults aged 65 and older in central Spain, found that people who reported slowing down in walking and everyday activities had a modestly higher risk of death over the long term.

Association, not proof

Experts cautioned that the studies show a link between walking speed and survival, not that walking faster directly extends life.

"This study shows an association, not proof that walking faster by itself adds years," Templin said.

Faster walkers may already be healthier in other ways. The researchers also noted that participants in the JAMA Network Open study were generally healthier than the larger group they were drawn from, which could limit how widely the findings apply.

Improving walking fitness

For older adults hoping to improve their walking speed and overall fitness, experts say simply taking more steps may not be enough. Templin recommended adding short bursts of faster walking to daily routines.

Strength and balance exercises can also help maintain the muscles and coordination needed for a brisk pace.

Doctors say checking walking speed is quick, inexpensive and could become a more common part of routine checkups for older patients.