Knee pain in people aged 80 years and older is not associated with gait parameter and functional performance

We evaluated the differences in gait and functional performance between two groups of elderly people, one consisting of people between 65 and 79 years of age and the other consisting of people over 80 years of age. We analysed whether knee pain affected gait and looked at the functional performance of the timed 'up and go' (TUG) and functional reach (FIR) tests. In 247 community-dwelling people aged 65 years and older, consisting of 90 men and 157 women with a mean age of 80 years (range 65-94 years), 47% had knee pain. Shorter stride, shorter step, slower speed, longer TUG and shorter FIR were seen in the group aged 80 years and over compared with the group aged 65-79 years. Knee pain was associated with TUG, especially in the group aged 65-79 years. In the group aged 65-79 years with knee pain, a shorter stride and step length, a longer time required to hold a double stance, a slower walking speed and a longer TUG were shown. However, in the group aged 80 years and over, there was no significant difference between participants with and without knee pain for these parameters.