Abstract
Horemans HL, Beelen A, Nollet F, Lankhorst GJ. Reproducibility of walking at self-preferred
and maximal speed in patients with postpoliomyelitis syndrome.
Objective
To assess the reproducibility of walking performance, heart rate, and perceived exertion
at self-preferred speed and maximal walking speed in patients with the postpoliomyelitis
syndrome (PPS).
Design
Repeated measurement at a 3-week interval.
Setting
University hospital.
Participants
Convenience sample of 65 patients with PPS.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main outcome measures
Walking performance: the distance walked in 2 minutes at a self-preferred speed and
the time needed to walk 75m at maximal speed, heart rate, and rating of perceived
exertion (RPE) on an 11-point scale.
Results
Test-retest reliability of walking performance was excellent for both tests (intraclass
correlation coefficient [ICC] range, .94–.97). No systematic differences existed between
test and retest. The smallest detectable change for an individual was 15% for both
tests. Test-retest reliability for heart rate was good (ICC=.86) but moderate for
RPE (Spearman ρ range, .67–.70). The smallest detectable change for RPE was between
4 and 6 scale points. The variability in walking performance was significantly correlated
with the variability in heart rate at self-preferred speed (r=.36, P<.01) but not with the variability in RPE (r=.20, P=.11).
Conclusions
Both walking tests showed good reproducibility and may be appropriate to monitor (individual)
changes in walking capacity in patients with PPS. Because of its moderate reproducibility,
RPE does not seem to be suitable to monitor physical exertion. The usefulness of an
objective measure such as heart rate for this purpose needs further investigation.
Key words
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Article Info
Footnotes
Supported by the Prinses Beatrix Fonds (grant no. MAR98-0112).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
