Comparison of two walk tests in determining the claudication distance in patients suffering from peripheral arterial occlusive disease.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to compare the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) in terms of the initial onset of pain (IOP), maximal claudicating pain (MCP), maximum walking distance (MWD), initial ankle brachial index (IABI), post ankle brachial index (PABI), and difference in ankle brachial index (DFABI), as well as to correlate changes in IOP and MWD, MCP and MWD, IABI and MWD, PABI and MWD, and DFABI and MWD in the 6MWT and ISWT.


METHODS
Participants (n = 19, 17 men and 2 women) were randomly allocated to the 6MWT or ISWT and crossed over to the other test after 24 hours. The baseline ankle brachial index (ABI) measurements were taken using the Doppler, following which the participants performed the tests. Post-test MWD, IOP, MCP, and ABI were measured. The paired t test was used pre- and post the walk test and the Pearson correlation was used to find any relationship between the desired variables.


RESULTS
The paired t test at 95% confidence interval for IABI and PABI (P > 0.05) was insignificant for the 6MWT and ISWT. The Pearson correlation of MWD with IOP showed a fair correlation, and the correlation of MWD to MCP showed a strong correlation in ISWT.


CONCLUSIONS
ISWT can be of vital importance as a tool to assess the functional status of patients suffering from Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease (PAOD) in both the clinical and research areas, and reflects a better assessment of the functional limitation when walking with PAOD as compared to the 6MWT.
Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Snehil
S
Dixit
Department of Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
Kalyana
K
Chakravarthy
Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Ravi Shankar
RS
Reddy
Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Jaya Shanker
JS
Tedla
Initial onset of pain; maximal claudicating pain; maximum walking distance; peripheral arterial occlusive disease; walking tests