The 6-Minute Walk test indoors is strongly related to walking ability outdoors in persons with late effects of polio

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether gait performance indoors can predict walking ability outdoors in persons with late effects of polio. Design: Descriptive analyses of a convenience sample. Setting: A university hospital rehabilitation medicine outpatient department. Participants: Sixty-three individuals with prior polio (32 men and 31 women, mean age 68 ± 6 years). Main outcome measures: The 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) and a 340-m-long distance were used to assess gait performance indoors and walking ability outdoors, respectively. The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale was used to assess perceived exertion after the gait performance tests. Results: Significant correlations (p < 0.01) were found between the 6MWT and the outdoor walking with regard to gait speed (r = 0.92) and perceived exertion (rho = 0.68). A majority of the participants walked significantly (p < 0.001) faster outdoors than indoors; the average gait speed was 1.3 ± 0.3 m/s outdoors and 1.2 ± 0.3 m/s indoors. There was no significant difference in perceived exertion; median RPE was 13 (range 11–19) after the outdoor walking and 13 (range 9–17) after the 6MWT. Conclusion: The strong relationship between gait speed indoors and gait speed outdoors indicates that the 6MWT is a useful test for physiotherapists to predict walking ability in everyday life in ambulatory persons with mild to moderate late effects of polio.

Key words::

• Outcome assessment (health care)
• post-polio myelitis syndrome
• rehabilitation
• walking

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the persons who volunteered to participate.

Conflicts of interest: No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

The study was supported by grants from Skane county council's research and development foundation and Stiftelsen för bistånd åt rörelsehindrade i Skåne.