A review of 161 gait studies found 77% never defined what healthy meant in adults 60 and older

What the research found

GeroScience published a scoping review on 5 November 2026. Santamaria-Guzman and colleagues asked how older-adult gait papers use the word healthy. They searched Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, and PubMed in January and February 2026 and kept peer-reviewed studies of gait in adults 60 and older that called the sample healthy or community-dwelling, or that defined it by exclusion. Of 3,011 records, 161 studies were included. Overall, 77 percent gave no explicit definition of health, and only 7 percent used inclusion-based criteria. Among 41 studies that labeled the sample healthy, 80 percent gave no definition and none used inclusion-based criteria. Among 90 community-dwelling studies, 92 percent did not define health status. Of studies that reported usual walking speed, 73 percent had means of at least 1.0 meters per second, yet those samples were close to population-cohort reference values (mean difference −0.03 meters per second). Ethnicity was unreported in 72 percent, physical activity in 44 percent, and body mass index in 43 percent. This is a review of how studies are labeled. It is not a walking trial. DOI 10.1007/s11357-026-02638-5. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at GeroScience