A 10 metre 6-minute walk test can not be used as an appropriate alternative to the standardised 30 metre 6-minute walk test: an inter- test reproducibility study

Abstract

Question: Does a 10-metre 6 minute walk test (6MWT) show acceptable agreement to the standardised 30-metre 6MWT, to be used as an appropriate alternative? Design: A within participant, inter-test reproducibility design Setting: Sports Hall, Queen Margaret University. Participants: 25 healthy participants, between 18 and 24 years, were recruited from the Queen Margaret University student population. Intervention: Participants attended for one session in which they were required to perform one 10m 6MWT and one 30m 6MWT. The 6MWTs were performed in accordance with the standardised American Thoracic Society guidelines. Total distance walked, number of laps, heart rate, Borg rate of perceived exertion and anthropometric data was recorded under strict experimental conditions. Outcome Measures: 6-minute walk distance in metres (6MWD). Results: Moderate inter-test reproducibility was found between the 10m 6MWT and the 30m, with an ICC score of 0.584 (95% CI of -0.53-0.879). Bland and Altman analysis produced a range of 94.12 m between 95% limits, showing moderate agreement. All of the participants walked further in the 30m 6MWT trial with a mean increase 13.18% (65.88 m) in 6MWD. Conclusion: The 10m 6MWT appears to have moderate agreement to the 30m 6MWT, however, when the results are considered with minimal detectable change values, this agreement can not be considered acceptable. The 10m 6MWT can not be interchanged with the standardised 30m 6MWT in clinical practice. It is recommended that further research, looking at the agreement between the 10m 6MWT and the 30m 6MWT, using more clinical populations and larger sample sizes.