Most people never think twice about taking a step, yet new research suggests how quickly someone begins walking may reveal important information about their overall health and even their chances of survival.
For people who are younger or have no problems with mobility, walking tends to happen almost automatically.
In later life, however, researchers say the speed of that movement may serve as a meaningful indicator when doctors are trying to evaluate longevity and mortality risk.
A team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) examined the relationship between stepping, balance, posture and long-term survival in older adults, following participants for close to 20 years.
The findings suggest that one small movement doctors often overlook could become a useful tool in future clinical assessments, although the authors say it should be seen as a complement to other measures rather than a replacement for them.
The research was led by Professor Itshak Melzer of BGU’s Department of Physical Therapy, working with experts from BGU, Soroka University Medical Center and the University of Minnesota.
The study, which was published in Gerontology in 2026, analyzed balance data that had originally been collected from community-dwelling older adults between 2005 and 2011. Those participants were then tracked for survival outcomes over a period of roughly 10 to 17 years.
According to the study, every additional 100 milliseconds, equal to one-tenth of a second, that participants needed to start a voluntary step while distracted was linked to a 28 percent higher risk of death during the follow-up period.
To investigate this, the researchers assessed participants in two separate testing scenarios.
One was a single-task condition, in which volunteers were instructed to step as fast as possible after receiving a cue.
The second was a dual-task challenge, where they had to perform the same quick step while also completing a modified Stroop task by identifying the ink colour of words shown in conflicting colours.
Because basic nerve conduction speed does not change simply due to distraction, the researchers said the added delay in the dual-task setting likely reflects limits in central neural processing. In other words, the brain may be finding it harder to manage thinking and movement at the same time.
The team also looked at static balance by tracking how much participants swayed while standing barefoot with their eyes closed. That measure was also linked to mortality, although it was far less precise than the stepping assessments.
The researchers say a slower stepping response may reflect wider issues in neurological and physical resilience, effectively showing how well the body and brain cope with stress in older age. That is especially important because poor balance raises the likelihood of falls, which can lead to fractures, muscle loss and traumatic brain injuries.
“Incorporating dual-task based assessments into standard clinical evaluations could significantly improve survival prediction and help guide early interventions targeting cognitive-motor health,” the study’s authors concluded.
It is already well established that walking speed tends to slow as people age, partly because of declining muscle strength, reduced flexibility, worsening balance and slower cognitive processing.
For instance, calf muscles and muscle fibres deteriorate over time, which can shorten stride length and reduce overall walking pace.
At the same time, ageing can slow nerve signalling in brain regions involved in movement, creating weaker communication between the brain and the muscles.
Experts have long used gait speed as a simple marker of health in older adults, and this newer work extends that idea to the speed of stepping itself. The difference is important: a step initiation test measures how quickly a person can respond, shift weight and begin movement, which may capture both physical and cognitive function at once.
For the study, the team recruited 120 adults aged over 65 who were living independently in the community. They were then monitored for between 10 and 17 years after their first assessment.
Those who died during the study period generally needed more time to begin stepping than those who remained alive, and that difference became even more obvious when distraction was added to the task.
The researchers also noted that step initiation speed may not be permanent or unchangeable.
Earlier clinical trials suggest it can be improved through targeted balance training and perturbation-based rehabilitation, raising the possibility that this type of test could help identify people most likely to benefit from mobility interventions aimed at improving long-term health.
Still, the authors cautioned that the study was exploratory and observational. Its findings show an association, not proof that slower stepping directly causes earlier death. They also pointed out that the sample was relatively small and limited to a specific group of older adults, so the results will need to be validated in larger and more diverse populations before the test can be used more widely in clinics.
Even so, the work adds to growing evidence that a person’s everyday movement patterns can offer a surprisingly detailed snapshot of ageing, balance and overall resilience.