Article

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
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.

Langue : ANGLAIS