Influence of timing protocols and distance covered on the outcomes of the 10-meter walk test

ABSTRACT

Background: The 10-meter walk test (10MWT) is commonly used to reflect a walking speed, health status, and functional ability of many individuals. However, the test is currently applied using various timing protocols and distance covered that may affect data interpretation with a standard value, and comparisons among the studies.

Objective: This study investigated the influence of timing protocols and distance covered on the outcomes of the 10MWT in 78 participants who walked at various speeds, including healthy adults (n = 33), healthy elderly (n = 29), and clinical samples with impaired walking ability (walked slower than 0.8 m/s, n = 16).

Methods: The participants were timed while they walked (1) over a 10-meter walkway using static and flying starts; and (2) over 4 and 10 meters using a flying start. The comparisons for outcomes of the timing protocols (static and flying starts), and distance covered (4 and 10 meters) for each group of participants was executed using the dependent samples t-test.

Results: A walking speed using a static start was slower than that using a flying start approximately 0.05–0.11 m/s for each group (p < 0.001). On the contrary, the outcomes of a flying start over 4 and 10 meters showed no significant differences (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: The findings clearly confirmed the influence of timing protocols on the outcomes of the 10MWT in individuals with various walking speeds, and a flying start over 4 meters in the middle of a 10-meter walkway can be applied as an alternative protocol of the 10MWT when area limits.

KEYWORDS:

• Outcome measure
• Functional test
• Rehabilitation
• Walking
• Screening tool

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Improvement of Physical Performance and Quality of Life (IPQ) research group (IPQ/SC-014); Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen university.