Article

PURPOSE: To investigate the test-retest reliability of the 4-meter walk test (4
MWT) and 10-meter walk test (10 MWT) in patients undergoing lower extremity
surgery during inpatient rehabilitation. METHOD:
In all, 102 patients with total
hip arthroplasty (THA), total knee arthroplasty (TKA), lower extremity fracture
(LEF) and soft tissue operation were recruited. Patients performed two 4 MWT and
two 10 MWT trials on the same day. The same researcher performed all the
measurements to avoid inter-rater variability. RESULTS:
The 4 MWT and 10 MWT were
shown to have excellent test-retest reliability. The ICCs for the 4 MWT and 10
MWT were found as 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The SEMs for the 4 MWT and 10 MWT
were 2.0 and 5.5 seconds, respectively. The smallest real difference at the 95%
confidence level (SRD95) was 5.5 seconds for the 4 MWT and 12.2 seconds for 10
MWT and SRD95 percentage was 31.2 for the 4 MWT and 28.5 for the 10 MWT.
CONCLUSION: Both the 4 MWT and the 10 MWT have excellent reliability in patients
undergoing lower extremity surgery such as TKA, THA, LEF and soft tissue
operation during inpatient rehabilitation. Clinicians and researchers can be
confident that changes above the SRD95s for the different patient groups, for
both sexes and with regard to weight-bearing status, represent a real clinical
change in rehabilitation process. Implications for Rehabilitation The 4 MWT and
the 10 MWT are simple methods and were also shown to be reliable measurement
methods in many patient groups. This study illustrates that the test-retest
reliability of the 4 MWT and 10 MWT are excellent in patients undergoing lower
extremity surgery during inpatient rehabilitation (ICC: 0.94 for 4 MWT, ICC: 0.95
for 10 MWT). Clinicians and researchers can be confident that changes above the
SRD95s for the different patient groups, for both sexes and with regard to
weight-bearing status represent a real clinical change in rehabilitation process.

Langue : ANGLAIS