Average (and standard errors) annual rates of change of walking speed in men and women participants of the InCHIANTI study according to 5-year age groups at study entry. To address selective attrition, rates of change were estimated by mixed effect models with inverse probability weighting. Three different walking tasks were considered: 4-m walk at usual and fast speed and 400-m walk at fast speed. Rates of change were estimated using data from baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 14-year follow-up. Rates are plotted at the lower age for the interval (eg, 20 is for participants who were 20–25 years old at study entry). Specific values plotted in this figure are reported in Supplementary Tables 1a and b. Description of the performance measures assessed in InCHIANTI and a global description of the InCHIANTI study have been reported elsewhere (134,135).
Usual walking speed at different ages in Men (n = 711) and Women (n = 766) participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
World record times for running 5,000 m according to age and sex.
Hypothetical model of individual versus population trend. Trajectories a–f are from individual subjects, while the red line is the population overall trajectory. At the population level, the critical age for change appears to be around 70, but the ages when critical declines occur (as indicated by the stars) are quite variable across individuals.
