title: Reliability of the parallel walk test for the elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine interrater agreement and test-retest reliability of the parallel walk test (PWT), a simple method of measuring dynamic balance in the elderly during gait.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outpatient clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Elderly fallers (N=34; mean ± SD age, 81.3±5.4y) registered at a falls clinic participated in this study based on Mini-Mental State Examination and Barthel Index scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were timed as they walked 6m between 2 parallel lines on the floor at 3 different widths (20, 30.5, 38cm) wearing their own footwear. They were scored for foot placement on (1 point) or outside the lines (2 points) by 2 separate raters. Fifteen subjects were retested 1 week later.
  
  
  METHODS
  Footfall score and time to complete the PWT. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and 95% limits of agreement were calculated for interrater and test-retest reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For widths of 20, 30.5, and 38cm, interrater reliability ICC range was .93 to .99 and test-retest ICC range was .63 to .90.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PWT was implemented easily by 2 raters with a high degree of interrater reliability. Test-retest reliability was not as high, possibly because of the high susceptibility of variation from 1 week to the next for frail elderly subjects. The 20- and 30.5-cm widths are recommended for future use of the PWT.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, Sport, and Science, Glamorgan University, Pontypridd, Wales. s.lark@massey.ac.nz
authors.forename: Sally D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Lark
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rowe
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D004856:Postural Balance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016138:Walking