Abstract
Fulk GD, Reynolds C, Mondal S, Deutsch JE. Predicting home and community walking activity
in people with stroke.
Objective
To determine the ability of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and other commonly used
clinical outcome measures to predict home and community walking activity in high-functioning
people with stroke.
Design
Cross-sectional.
Setting
Outpatient physical therapy clinic.
Participants
Participants (N=32) with chronic stroke (n=19; >6mo poststroke) with self-selected
gait speed (GS) faster than .40m/s and age-matched healthy participants (n=13).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Independent variables: 6MWT, self-selected GS, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), lower extremity
motor section of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, and Stroke Impact Scale. Dependent variable:
average steps taken per day during a 7-day period, measured using an accelerometer.
Results
6MWT, self-selected GS, and BBS were moderately related to home and community walking
activity. The 6MWT was the only predictor of average steps taken per day; it explained
46% of the variance in steps per day.
Conclusions
The 6MWT is a useful outcome measure in higher functioning people with stroke to guide
intervention and assess community walking activity.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
ADL (activities of daily living), BBS (Berg Balance Scale), FAC (Functional Ambulation Categories), FMA (Fugl-Meyer Assessment), GS (gait speed), LE (lower extremity), SAM (StepWatch Activity Monitor), SIS (Stroke Impact Scale), 6MWT (6-minute walk test), WAQ (Walking Ability Questionnaire)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Footnotes
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.
Reprints are not available from the author.
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Copyright
© 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
