title: Gait and six-minute walk performance in persons with multiple sclerosis.
abstract: The six-minute walk (6 MW) has been established as a clinic-based, performance measure of walking endurance that reflects community ambulation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Consequently, identifying the contribution of variables to 6 MW performance may provide targets for improving real-life walking in MS, and these variables may differ as a function of disability. This study examined cadence and stride length as gait variables that explain differences in 6 MW performance between persons with MS and controls, and by level of disability. 256 community-residing persons with MS and 49 non-MS controls performed a standard 6 MW test and completed 2 trials of comfortable walking on an electronic walkway for quantifying gait. Regression analyses indicated that cadence and stride length explain differences in 6 MW performance between MS and controls, and by level of disability in MS. The contribution of cadence and stride length to walking endurance differed as a function of disability, such that cadence and to a greater extent stride length explained variance in 6 MW performance in mild MS, whereas cadence and stride length explained approximately an equivalent amount of variance in 6 MW performance in moderate-to-severe MS. We provide evidence for intervention strategies that are specific to disability level to improve walking endurance in MS.
authors: Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA.
authors: Lara A
authors: LA
authors: Pilutti
authors: Deirdre
authors: D
authors: Dlugonski
authors: Brian M
authors: BM
authors: Sandroff
authors: Yoojin
authors: Y
authors: Suh
authors: John H
authors: JH
authors: Pula
authors: Jacob J
authors: JJ
authors: Sosnoff
authors: Robert W
authors: RW
authors: Motl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cadence; Gait; Multiple sclerosis; Rehabilitation; Six-minute walk; Stride length; Walking endurance