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Updated: Mar 23, 2026
Measurements of Motor Function and Other Clinical Outcome Parameters in Ambulant Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Published on: January 12, 2019
Six-minute walk test is reliable and valid in spinal muscular atrophy
Sally Dunaway Young1,2, Jacqueline Montes3,4, Samantha S Kramer5
1Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. sld2120@columbia.edu.
Introduction:
The Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) was adopted as a clinical outcome measure for ambulatory spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). However, a systematic review of measurement properties reported significant variation among chronic pediatric conditions. Our purpose was to assess the reliability/validity of the 6MWT in SMA.
Methods:
Thirty participants performed assessments, including the 6MWT, strength, and function. Reproducibility was evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficients. Criterion/convergent validity were determined using Pearson correlation coefficients.
Results:
Test-retest reliability was excellent. The 6MWT was associated positively with peak oxygen uptake, Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale Expanded (HFMSE), lower extremity manual muscle testing, knee flexion hand-held dynamometry, and inversely with 10-m walk/run. The 6MWT discriminates between disease severity, unlike the HFMSE.
Conclusions:
This study documents measurement properties of reproducibility, positive criterion validity, and convergent validity with established clinical assessments and reaffirms the value of the 6MWT as a pivotal outcome measure in SMA clinical trials. Muscle Nerve 54: 836-842, 2016.
