SLOWER gait speed is significantly associated with a higher risk of future depression in adults, a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis has found.
Researchers suggested it has the capacity to act as a non-invasive biomarker for identifying people at risk of depression.
Depressive Disorders and Gait
Depressive disorders are a significant global health challenge and are the second leading cause of years lived with disability.
WHO estimates that 5.7% adults live with depression. It affects more than 330 million people worldwide and exhibits a notably higher prevalence among women and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Depression and Physiological Changes
People with depression experience clear alterations in gait, including reduced stride length and width, slower reaction times, and an increased number of steps for turning.
Previous research has also shown that lower levels of physical activity are associated with incident depression.
Depressive disorders are associated with altered white matter in motor circuits and abnormal cerebral blood flow in frontal and motor regions of the brain, which can lead to slowed gait speed.
Gait Speed as a Preclinical Indicator of Depression
Research has not yet, however, addressed whether such changes precede the onset of depression and therefore act as indicators or risk factors.
Researchers analysed 10 studies that were all rated as having a low risk of bias. They found that slower gait speed was significantly associated with an increased risk of depression later in life, independent of sex, age, or follow-up duration.
In six studies including more than 13,000 records, slower walkers had an approximately 30% higher chance of developing depression in the future. In the remaining four studies, including over 90,000 participants, those with a slower gait speed had a near 20% higher risk of incident depression.
Researchers, therefore, highlighted gait speed as a potential non-invasive biomarker for the early identification of individuals at risk of depression.
References
Guimarães MEA et al. Gait speed and incident depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2026;DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2025.120516.
Elkjær E et al. Motor alterations in depression and anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2022;317:373-387.
World Health Organisation. Depressive disorder (depression). 2025. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression. Last accessed: 26 February 2026.
Featured image: Mark Yuill on Adobe Stock
