Predicting Home and Community Walking Activity in People With Stroke

Fulk GD, Reynolds C, Mondal S, Deutsch JE. Predicting home and community walking activity in people with stroke. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2010;91:1582-6. 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.