Article

Free-living walking occurs over a wide range of durations and
intensities (cadence). Therefore, its characterisation requires a full
description of the distribution of duration and cadence of these walking events.
The aim was to use event-based analysis to characterise this in a population with
intermittent claudication (IC) and a healthy matched control group. METHODS:
Seven-day walking activity was recorded using the activPAL activity monitor in a
group of people with IC (n=30) and an age-matched control group (n=30). The
cadence, number of steps and duration of individual walking events were
calculated and outcomes were derived, and compared (p<0.05), based on thresholds
applied. RESULTS: Both groups had similar number of walking events per day
(392+/-117 vs 415+/-160). The control group accumulated a greater proportion of
their walking at higher cadences and 32% of their steps were taken at a cadence
above 100 steps/min, for the IC group this was 20%. Longer walking events had
higher cadences and the IC group had fewer of these. As walking events became
longer the cadence increased but the inter-event cadence variability decreased.
More purposeful walking might occur at a higher cadence, and be performed at a
preferred cadence. Individuals with IC had a smaller volume of walking, but these
differences occurred almost entirely above a cadence of 90 steps/min.
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study which has quantified the cadence of
continuous periods of free-living walking. The characteristics (duration, number
of steps and cadence) of all the individual walking events were used to derive
novel outcomes, providing new insights into free-living walking behaviour.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS