Effects of Lower Limb Length and Body Proportions on the Energy Cost of Overground Walking in Older Persons

Table 1

General characteristics of the study sample and results from the six-minute walk test (𝑛=62).

General characteristics
Age, years (mean ± SD)	69.1 ± 5.4
Female sex, 𝑛 (%)	12 (19)
Weight, kg (mean ± SD)	72.3 ± 13.0
Height, cm (mean ± SD)	169.8 ± 7.7
Lower limb length, cm (mean ± SD)	87.7 ± 5.6
Lower limb length to height ratio, % (mean ± SD)	51.7 ± 1.9
Results from the six-minute walk test
Distance walked, m (mean ± SD)	424 ± 63
Mean walking speed, m sec^−1 (mean ± SD)	1.2 ± 0.2
Mean kinetic energy, joule (mean ± SD)	51.6 ± 18.4
Step number, 𝑛 (mean ± SD)	310 ± 42
Step cadence, sec^−1 (mean ± SD)	0.86 ± 0.12
Step length, m (mean ± SD)	1.38 ± 0.19
Step number per meter, m^−1 (mean ± SD)	0.74 ± 0.10
Resting metabolic rate, joule min^−1 (mean ± SD)	5,312 ± 958
Gross energy expenditure throughout the test, joule (mean ± SD)	129,362 ± 30,213
Net energy expenditure throughout the test, joule (mean ± SD)	97,489 ± 25,617
Cost of locomotion, joule kg^−1 sec^−1 (mean ± SD)	3.73 ± 0.64
Cost of locomotion to kinetic energy ratio, kg^−1 sec^−1 (mean ± SD)	79.9 * 10^−3 ± 26.5 * 10^−3