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Measurement Properties and Minimal Detectable Change of the 6-Min Step Test for Estimating Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Raissa Olegário Aguiar Pavesi1, Augusto Boening1, Silvana Dos Santos Meyrelles2
1Department of Physiotherapy, Universidade Federal Do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil.
Background:
The 6-minuteute step test is an alternative for estimating cardiorespiratory fitness after stroke.
Objective:
To investigate its measurement properties and minimal detectable change early after stroke.
Methods:
Cross-sectional, methodological study. Participants were inpatient individuals in the acute/subacute phase after stroke, who performed the 6-min step and the 6-min walk tests. The outcomes of interest were test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities, validity, measurement error, and minimal detectable change.
Results:
Fifty-one individuals (34 men) with a mean time of 6 days (SD 2) since stroke, and a mean walking speed of 0.9 m/s (SD 0.2) were included. The 6-min step test had a very-high test-retest (ICC 0.93; 95% CI 0.88-0.96) and inter-rater reliability (ICC 0.95; 95% CI 0.91-0.97). The correlation between the 6-min-step test and the 6-min walk was moderate (r = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3-0.7). The measurement error was 8 (10%) and the minimal detectable change was 21 repetitions.
Conclusion:
The 6-min step test demonstrated appropriate test-retest and inter-rater reliability. Agreement with the 6-min walk test was imprecise, which may reflect the greater physical demand of the 6-min-step test. Further studies are needed to examine the relationship between the 6-min-step test and maximal cardiorespiratory capacity.
