Characterizing Gait Speed Variations in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Secondary Analysis of the MacM3 Cohort

As Canada’s population gets older, falls among seniors have become a major health concern. Falls can cause serious injuries like broken bones and loss of mobility, and they can also lead to fear of falling again, which may cause older adults to move less and lose independence. However, many falls could be prevented if people at higher risk were identified earlier. The McMaster Monitoring of Mobility (MacM3) project studies how older adults move in their everyday lives via data collection from a smart watch and accelerometer. One key measurement the study looks at is gait speed, which is often used to assess health and mobility in older adults. This research aims to analyze gait speed in people aged 65 and older in the MacM3 cohort and stratify data through factors like age, sex, health, and socioeconomic status, The goal is to understand mobility patterns in older adults better and explore the stratification of the data point to help determine whether simple walking-speed tests could help identify people at higher risk of falls earlier, potentially leading to better prevention strategies and reducing the burden on the healthcare system.