An international group of scientists has found that a person’s walking speed and step frequency in daily life are associated with the risk of premature death. An analysis of data from more than 4,000 participants showed that people who walked faster had, on average, a lower risk of death over the subsequent years of follow-up.
The study’s findings were published on October 23, 2026, in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open. The study involved researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the University of Paris-Cité, the University of Leicester, and other academic institutions.
The study was based on the British long-term Whitehall II project. The researchers analyzed data from 4,067 individuals, whose average age at the start of the study was 69.3 years. Men accounted for 74.4% of the participants, and women for 25.6%.
In 2012–2013, participants underwent walking speed tests over a distance of 2.44 meters and wore wrist-mounted accelerometers to track their daily physical activity.
On average, the devices recorded data for nearly eight days. The researchers assessed not only the number of steps taken but also walking frequency, expressed in steps per minute.
The participants’ average walking speed during clinical testing was 1.2 meters per second, and the median walking frequency in daily life was 75.3 steps per minute.
Further health follow-up lasted an average of 11.8 years. During this period, 739 people—or 18.2% of the study participants—died.
An increase in walking speed of 0.1 meters per second is associated with a 10% reduction in the risk of death
After adjusting for age, sex, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, chronic diseases, and other factors, the researchers found a consistent association between walking speed and mortality.
Specifically, an increase in walking speed during a clinical test of 0.1 meters per second corresponded to a reduction in the relative risk of death during the follow-up period of approximately 10%.
When the median walking rate in daily life increased by 10 steps per minute, the corresponding risk was 17% lower.
An even stronger association was observed when analyzing the 95th percentile of step rate, which characterizes relatively fast periods of walking.
An increase in this measure by 10 steps per minute was associated with a reduction in the relative risk of death by approximately 19%.
The authors note that the observed associations persisted even after adjusting for the total number of steps per day.
Thus, when assessing health status, it is potentially important to consider not only the volume of physical activity but also walking pace.
However, the percentages reported reflect statistical associations rather than a proven effect of walking speed on life expectancy.
“Smart” watches could serve as an additional tool for health assessment
One of the study’s main objectives was to compare two methods of assessing walking: short-term clinical testing and the measurement of daily activity using portable electronic devices.
The researchers found that both methods demonstrated comparable ability to distinguish between participants with higher and lower mortality risk.
However, when all known risk factors were included in the statistical models, only clinical measurement of walking speed provided a statistically significant additional improvement in mortality prediction.
The researchers believe that data from “smart” watches and other wearable devices can complement traditional medical examinations, as they allow for the monitoring of a person’s physical activity under normal conditions over the course of several days.
Unlike a brief test at a medical facility, accelerometers record patterns of everyday behavior and can be used to study changes in physical activity.
At the same time, the authors emphasize that clinical walking speed and step frequency, as measured by wearable devices, are not interchangeable indicators.
The authors note a number of limitations to the study. In particular, participants were, on average, healthier than the initial observation group, and men accounted for nearly three-quarters of the sample.
Furthermore, the study was observational in nature and did not involve an experiment in which participants were specifically trained to walk faster.
Therefore, the results do not provide grounds for claiming that a simple increase in walking speed directly reduces mortality by 10–19%.
A higher walking speed may indicate better overall health, physical fitness, and functional capacity.
At the same time, the researchers believe that assessing walking speed could become a useful additional tool for studying the health of older adults.
Further research is needed to implement this approach, particularly involving more diverse population groups and independent validation of prognostic models.
The study, titled Clinical Walking Speed, Free-Living Walking Cadence, and All-Cause Mortality, was published in JAMA Network Open on October 23, 2026. The lead author was Rayane Haddadj of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The research was supported by European research programs, including Horizon Europe.
Source: JAMA Network Open, original study from October 23, 2026. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.40122.
