Velocidade de caminhada como preditora da incapacidade funcional em idosos

The objective of this study was to analyze walking speed as a predictor of functional disability (FD) in the elderly. This cross-sectional, epidemiological study was carried out in a Municipality of the State of Bahia, in the Northeastern Region of Brazil, with a probabilistic sample of 310 elderly people with an average age of 71.62 (SD = 8.15) years old, enrolled in the Family Health Units of the municipality. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed and the criterion discriminating the walking speed of 2.44 m (seconds) for functional disability was determined. The walking times that best discriminated the FD were ≥12.83 seconds for men and ≥10.77 seconds for women. It was concluded that walking speed has a good ability to discriminate the FD in the elderly and it can be used in the gerontological evaluation and in the survey of the health conditions of the elderly.