Walking speed and distance in different environments of subjects in the later stage post-stroke

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess short- and long-distance walking performance in indoor and outdoor environments of slow and fast walkers' subjects living in the community in the later stage post-stroke. Thirty-six subjects with at least 6 months post-stroke were included and divided into two groups based on their walking speed in the clinical setting. Thirty-meter walk tests (30 mWT) at self-selected and maximum speeds were assessed in three environments: (1) clinical setting; (2) basement setting; and (3) outdoor setting. Six-minute walk test (6 MWT) distance was assessed in the clinical and outdoor settings. The differences between the 30 mWT and the 6 MWT, as measured by the actual distance obtained in the 6 MWT and the predicted distance calculated for the 30 mWT, were also investigated. There was no difference in walking speed when subjects performed short-distance walking in different environments. However, a difference was found in performance of long-distance walking. Subjects who walked 0.8 m/s or faster also walked further in the outdoor setting. The findings of our study demonstrate that in those who scored below 0.8 m/s, performance of short- and long-distance walking evaluated in an indoor environment reflects the results obtained in an outdoor environment. However, for subjects post-stroke who score 0.8 m/s or faster, distance was increased in the outdoor environments during long-distance walking. Walking speed obtained over a short distance seemed to overestimate long-distance walking capacity for the slow walkers, despite the environment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Professor Emeritus Gunnar Grimby for reading through the draft manuscript. We would also like to thank all the participants in the study.

This study was supported in part by the Swedish Research Council (VR K2002-27-VX-14318-01A), the John and Brit Wennerströms Foundation, the Hjalmar Svensson Foundation, the Rune and Ulla Amlövs Foundation, and the Greta and Einar Askers Foundation.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.