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Measuring walking-related performance fatigability in clinical practice: a systematic review
Fanny Van Geel1, Lousin Moumdjian2,3, Ilse Lamers2,4
1REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium - fanny.vangeel@uhasselt.be.
European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
|November 20, 2019
Summary
Objective measures for walking-related fatigability (WF) are crucial for understanding mobility limitations. This review highlights common methods, primarily longer walking tests like the 6-minute walk test, but notes a lack of a gold standard.
Area of Science:
- Clinical measurement
- Rehabilitation science
- Movement science
Background:
- Fatigability impacts daily life and causes walking limitations.
- Subjective assessments of walking-related fatigability (WF) are common, but objective measurement methods require further investigation.
- This study provides an overview of objective clinical measurement methods for WF across diverse populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and summarize objective clinical measurement methods for assessing walking-related fatigability (WF).
- To identify commonly used walking tasks and outcome measures for WF in various patient groups.
- To evaluate the current state of objective WF assessment in clinical settings.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science.
- Included studies objectively measured WF in a clinical setting across different populations.
- Data on patient characteristics, walking tasks, WF formulas, and psychometric properties were extracted and analyzed from 28 articles.
Main Results:
- Walking-related fatigability was predominantly measured using longer walking tests, such as the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) and 400/500-meter walking tests.
- Comparisons of the first and last parts of the test were used to assess spatiotemporal or kinematic changes.
- No universal gold standard exists due to variations in tasks and outcome measures across populations.
Conclusions:
- Longer walking tests, particularly the 6MWT, are frequently employed for objective WF assessment.
- The comparison of changes between the initial and final segments of the test is a common approach.
- Further research is needed to document the psychometric properties of these measures before they can be reliably used as experimental outcomes.
