Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 14, 2026
The Multiple Sclerosis Performance Test MSPT: An iPad-Based Disability Assessment Tool
Published on: June 30, 2014
Ecological validity of walking capacity tests in multiple sclerosis
J P Stellmann1, A Neuhaus2, N Götze1
1Institute of Neuroimmunology and MS (INIMS) and Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Background:
Ecological validity implicates in how far clinical assessments refer to real life. Short clinical gait tests up to ten meters and 2- or 6-Minutes Walking Tests (2MWT/6MWT) are used as performance-based outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) studies and considered as moderately associated with real life mobility.
Objective:
To investigate the ecological validity of 10 Meter Walking Test (10mWT), 2MWT and 6MWT.
Methods:
Persons with MS performed 10mWT, 6MWT including 2MWT and 7 recorded days by accelerometry. Ecological validity was assumed if walking tests represented a typical walking sequence in real-life and correlations with accelerometry parameters were strong.
Results:
In this cohort (n=28, medians: age=45, EDSS=3.2, disease duration=9 years), uninterrupted walking of 2 or 6 minutes occurred not frequent in real life (2.61 and 0.35 sequences/day). 10mWT correlated only with slow walking speed quantiles in real life. 2MWT and 6MWT correlated moderately with most real life walking parameters.
Conclusion:
Clinical gait tests over a few meters have a poor ecological validity while validity is moderate for 2MWT and 6MWT. Mobile accelerometry offers the opportunity to control and improve the ecological validity of MS mobility outcomes.
