title: Periodic sound-based 6-minute walk test forpatients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy:a preliminary study.
abstract: [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to verify if a periodic sound-based 6-minute walk test with the best periodic sound could be used to evaluate physical endurance more precisely than the conventional 6-minute walk test. [Subjects] The subjects were healthy subjects and 6 ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. [Methods] The subjects initially walked for 1 minute to a long-interval metronome sound, and the walking distance was measured. The sound interval was then gradually shortened, and the subjects walked for 1 minute for each of the intervals. The best periodic sound was considered to be the periodic sound used when the subject walked the longest distance in 1 minute, and the process of determining it was referred to as the period shortening walk test. This study administered the 6-minute walk test with the best periodic sound to twenty healthy subjects and 6 ambulant patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and compared the walking distance. [Results] The periodic sound-based 6-minute walk test distances in both the healthy subjects and the patients were significantly longer than the conventional 6-minute walk test distances. [Conclusion] The periodic sound-based 6-minute walk test provided a better indication of ambulatory potential in an evaluation of physical endurance than the conventional 6-minute walk test.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Shinshu University, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
authors.affiliation: Corporate Planning, Kissei Comtec Co., Ltd., Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Genno
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shiba
authors.affiliation: Intractable Disease Care Center, Shinshu University Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakamura
keywords: 6-Minute walk test; Best periodic sound; Period shortening walk test