Reliability of the parallel walk test for the elderly

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Lark, S. D. and McCarthy, P. W. and Rowe, D. A. (2011) Reliability of the parallel walk test for the elderly. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 92 (5). pp. 812-817. ISSN 0003-9993 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.11.028)

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Abstract

To determine interrater agreement and test-retest reliability of the parallel walk test (PWT), a simple method of measuring dynamic balance in the elderly during gait. Elderly fallers (N=34; mean ± SD age, 81.3±5.4y) registered at a falls clinic participated in this study based on Mini-Mental State Examination and Barthel Index scores. Subjects were timed as they walked 6m between 2 parallel lines on the floor at 3 different widths (20, 30.5, 38cm) wearing their own footwear. They were scored for foot placement on (1 point) or outside the lines (2 points) by 2 separate raters. Fifteen subjects were retested 1 week later. Footfall score and time to complete the PWT. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and 95% limits of agreement were calculated for interrater and test-retest reliability. For widths of 20, 30.5, and 38cm, interrater reliability ICC range was .93 to .99 and test-retest ICC range was .63 to .90. The PWT was implemented easily by 2 raters with a high degree of interrater reliability. Test-retest reliability was not as high, possibly because of the high susceptibility of variation from 1 week to the next for frail elderly subjects. The 20- and 30.5-cm widths are recommended for future use of the PWT.

ORCID iDs

Lark, S. D., McCarthy, P. W. and Rowe, D. A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5249-9008;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)