Walking difficulty, walking speed, and age as predictors of self-rated health:: The women's health and aging study

Background. Older persons reporting disability are more likely to report poor self-rated health, but little work has been done to assess the independent relationships of reported walking difficulty and measured walking performance with self-rated health. This study examines the associations of walking difficulty, walking speed, and age with self-rated health in older women. Methods. The data are from the baseline of the Women's Health and Aging Study. Difficulty walking one quarter mile was used as a measure of mobility in the representative population aged 65 and older screened for the study (n = 3841) and in the one third most disabled study group (n = 1002). Maximal walking speed was measured in the study sample. Results. Increasing severity of walking difficulty (in the screened population and in the disabled study.-roup), slower walking speed (in the study.-roup), and younger age were all associated with fair or poor self-rated health, after simultaneous adjustment for these and other objective measures of physical performance and health. The associations of both measures of walking with self-rated health weakened with age. Conclusions. Both walking difficulty and walking speed are independent determinants of self-rated health. Adjusted for health and functioning, self-rated health tends to improve with age.