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. 2019;45(2):239-245.
doi: 10.3233/NRE-192792.

The 2-minute walk test is not a valid method to determine aerobic capacity in persons with Multiple Sclerosis

Heleen Beckerman  1 , Martin Heine  1   2 , Lizanne E van den Akker  1 , Vincent de Groot  1
Affiliations

The 2-minute walk test is not a valid method to determine aerobic capacity in persons with Multiple Sclerosis

Heleen Beckerman et al. NeuroRehabilitation. 2019.

Abstract

Background: Walking tests, like the 2-minute fast walk test, are simple, inexpensive performance-based tests, and therefore seem attractive to estimate the aerobic fitness in people with chronic diseases.

Objective: To determine the criterion validity of the 2-minute fast walk test for estimating aerobic capacity in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), by comparing it with the peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak in mL/kg/min) as measured by Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) on a cycle ergometer.

Methods: The 2 min fast walk test was performed on a marked indoor trajectory, using a static start protocol. Aerobic capacity (VO2peak, in mL/kg/min) was derived from CPET on a cycle ergometer. Criterion validity was tested by means of Pearson's correlation coefficient and should be at least 0.70 for a good criterion validity of the 2 min walk test. Linear regression analysis was applied to more precisely estimate VO2peak.

Results: In total 141 people with severe MS-related fatigue (mean age 47.0 years (range 23-68 years), 73% women, median disease duration 7.8 years (range 0.3 - 28.7 years)) performed both tests. The distance walked in two minutes ranged from 52.0 to 290.0 m (mean 175.1 m, sd 44.9 m), while the VO2peak varied between 11.31 and 40.28 mL/kg/min (mean 22.52 mL/kg/min, sd 6.07 mL/kg/min). The correlation between the 2 min walk test and VO2peak was 0.441 (95% CI: 0.309-0.570). The absolute residual error in estimated VO2peak was 5.47 mL/kg/min.

Conclusions: Due to the poor correlation found between the 2 min walk test and VO2peak, the 2-min walk test cannot be recommended as a valid alternative for estimating aerobic capacity in persons with MS.

Keywords: 2 minute walk test; Exercise capacity; criterion validity; multiple sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig.1
Fig.1
Scatterplot with correlation line between 2 min walk test distance (in meters) and the measured VO2peak (in mL/kg/min).
Fig.2
Fig.2
Plot of measured VO2peak in mL/kg/min by VO2peak estimated from 2 min walk test distance in meters. The diagonal line represents the line of perfect agreement.
Fig.3
Fig.3
Bland and Altman plot of agreement between measured VO2peak in mL/kg/min and VO2peak estimated from 2 min walk test distance in meters. The horizontal line at 0 represents perfect agreement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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