The effect of sex, stature, and limb length on the preferred walk-to-run transition speed

Gill, NM; Hollands, K; O'Leary, TJ; Roberts, AJ; Greeves, JP; Jones, R

Abstract

Background
The preferred walk-to-run transition speed (PTS) for healthy adults is approximately 2 m∙s-1, however, PTS is influenced by anthropometric factors. Yet despite known sex differences in anthropometrics, studies have reported no sex differences in PTS.

Research question
Do stature and limb length affect PTS in the same way for both male and female healthy adults?

Methods
Thirty-seven (19 female) non-injured adults volunteered for this study. Participants completed a walk-to-run transition protocol, where the treadmill speed was increased from 1.2 m∙s-1 to 2.2 m∙s-1, in increments of 0.1 m∙s-1 every two minutes. An independent t-test compared PTS between sexes. Multiple regression analysis determined the effect of sex and stature and sex and limb length on PTS.

Results
Female participants transitioned at a lower PTS than male participants (1.8 (0.2) m∙s-1 versus 1.9 (0.1) m∙s-1; p ≤ 0.026). Sex and stature explained 19% of the variance in PTS, while sex and limb length explained 21% of the variance. Including interactions increased the variance explained by 23% and 2% for sex and stature and sex and limb length, respectively. The significant interaction between sex and stature showed PTS was inversely proportional to stature for male participants but directly proportional for female participants.

Significance
These findings suggest that the extent to which stature and limb length influence the preferred transition speed may differ between sexes.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 11, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 19, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 19, 2022
• Deposit Date: Aug 31, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 31, 2022
• Journal: Gait & Posture
• Print ISSN: 0966-6362
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-2219
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 98
• Pages: 1-5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.08.006
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.08.006