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Repeatability of the timed 25-foot walk test for individuals with multiple sclerosis
Rebecca D Larson1, Daniel J Larson, Ted B Baumgartner
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. rdlarson@ou.edu
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a practice effect present in the timed 25-foot walk in ambulatory individuals with multiple sclerosis.
Design:
Thirty six people (30 women and 6 men) diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis participated in two testing sessions, one week apart. Each participant performed two sequential trials of the timed 25-foot walk test per session and the walk performance was measured with a laser timing system.
Results:
We observed improvements in walking speed between the two trials of session one (trial one: 6.42 (0.09) vs. trail two: 5.97 (0.08) seconds, p < 0.001). Within session two, performance remained stable (trial three: 5.71 (0.07) vs. trial four: 5.63 (0.07) seconds, p > 0.05). We also observed a significant improvement in walking speed when averages of the two trials were compared across sessions (session 1: 6.19 (0.09) vs. session 2: 5.67 (0.07) seconds, p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Based on our results, familiarization of the timed 25-foot walk test improves stability of walk performance scores in ambulatory individuals with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.
