title: Reliability of 4-meter and 10-meter walk tests after lower extremity surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the test-retest reliability of the 4-meter walk test (4 MWT) and 10-meter walk test (10 MWT) in patients undergoing lower extremity surgery during inpatient rehabilitation.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 102 patients with total hip arthroplasty (THA), total knee arthroplasty (TKA), lower extremity fracture (LEF) and soft tissue operation were recruited. Patients performed two 4 MWT and two 10 MWT trials on the same day. The same researcher performed all the measurements to avoid inter-rater variability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 4 MWT and 10 MWT were shown to have excellent test-retest reliability. The ICCs for the 4 MWT and 10 MWT were found as 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The SEMs for the 4 MWT and 10 MWT were 2.0 and 5.5 seconds, respectively. The smallest real difference at the 95% confidence level (SRD95) was 5.5 seconds for the 4 MWT and 12.2 seconds for 10 MWT and SRD95 percentage was 31.2 for the 4 MWT and 28.5 for the 10 MWT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both the 4 MWT and the 10 MWT have excellent reliability in patients undergoing lower extremity surgery such as TKA, THA, LEF and soft tissue operation during inpatient rehabilitation. Clinicians and researchers can be confident that changes above the SRD95s for the different patient groups, for both sexes and with regard to weight-bearing status, represent a real clinical change in rehabilitation process. Implications for Rehabilitation The 4 MWT and the 10 MWT are simple methods and were also shown to be reliable measurement methods in many patient groups. This study illustrates that the test-retest reliability of the 4 MWT and 10 MWT are excellent in patients undergoing lower extremity surgery during inpatient rehabilitation (ICC: 0.94 for 4 MWT, ICC: 0.95 for 10 MWT). Clinicians and researchers can be confident that changes above the SRD95s for the different patient groups, for both sexes and with regard to weight-bearing status represent a real clinical change in rehabilitation process.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedic Physiotherapy , School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Bayram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Unver
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedic Physiotherapy , School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Refik Hilmi
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Baris
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedic Physiotherapy , School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ertugrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedic Physiotherapy , School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Senol
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cekmece
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedic Physiotherapy , School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Serpil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalkan
authors.affiliation: b Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology , School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Vasfi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Karatosun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019643:Arthroplasty, Replacement / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D020127:Recovery of Function; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000070857:Walk Test / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology
keywords: 10-meter walk test; 4-meter walk test; Test–retest reliability; inpatient rehabilitation; lower extremity surgery