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Taking a step is something most people take for granted.
For younger people and those without movement disorders, it’s a simple process that often doesn’t elicit a second thought.
But as we age, the amount of time it takes to put one foot in front of the other could be a vital clue in measuring lifespan and risk of death.
Researchers in Israel sought to understand how balance, posture and muscle movement were associated with survival rates in older adults over the course of nearly two decades.
They found that for every extra 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds) it took participants to initiate a voluntary step while they were distracted, their risk of death increased by nearly 30 percent during the follow-up period.
While exact numbers vary based on a person’s height, fitness level and general walking speed, initiating one step usually takes between 600 and 700 milliseconds. Running or sprinting cuts that time down to between 300 and 400 milliseconds.
The researchers believe the findings show that slower steps may be an indication of overall neurological and physiological resilience in aging, which signals the brain and body’s ability to adapt to stress.
Poor balance, for instance, can increase the risk of experiencing a fall, which in older adults leads to broken bones, muscle wasting and traumatic brain injuries.
A new study has shown that people who need more time to take a step have a 28 percent higher risk of death
The study authors noted that conducting similar experiments may help improve long-term survival odds in older adults.
‘Incorporating dual-task based assessments into standard clinical evaluations could significantly improve survival prediction and help guide early interventions targeting cognitive-motor health,’ they wrote.
Walking speed gradually diminishes with age as a result of muscle weakness, lower joint flexibility, weaker balance and slower brain processing.
For instance, calf muscles and fibers naturally degrade over time, which causes older people to take shorter steps, slowing down their overall speed.
Nerve signals in areas of the brain responsible for motor functions also suffer delays, resulting in miscommunications between the brain and muscles.
Age-related conditions like osteoarthritis in the knees, hips and feet also result in pain that makes older individuals slow their pace or take longer in between steps.
In the new study, published in the journal Gerontology, researchers recruited 120 adults over 65, with an average age of 78, and followed them for 10 to 17 years.
Participants had to be able to stand for at least 90 seconds on their own and walk at least 10 meters (32 feet) to be eligible for the study.
Researchers asked the participants to step as quickly as possible forward, backward and sideways. They would practice walking and then walk while performing a modified Stroop task, which involves naming the ink color of words printed in mismatched colors.
The team found that for each additional 100 millisecond increase in step initiation time under distracted conditions, mortality risk increased by 28 percent over the coming 10 to 17 years.
People who did not survive the study period took 423 milliseconds to initiate a step compared to 313 milliseconds on average for those who survived.
Each step for non-survivors took 1.3 seconds compared to 1.1 seconds for survivors.
People with weaker balance while standing with their eyes closed were also more likely to die within the follow-up period.
The researchers noted that slower step initiation can trigger a cascade of mortality factors such as reduced physical activity.
There were several limitations to the study, including the small sample size and only testing the participants in one set of experiments. The researchers also note that the study can only show associations rather than direct causes.
