You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
Background: Six-minute walk test (6MWT) is used to measure functional capacity and endurance among older adults. However, 6MWT can be time-consuming and challenging for frail older adults, leading to the development of 2-minute walk test (2MWT). This study investigates the feasibility of using the shorter 2-minute walk test (2MWT) as an alternative to the 6MWT in community-dwelling older adults in Nigeria. Aims: This study made a comparative analysis of the gait speeds and distances walked between the 2MWT and 6MWT among community dwelling older adults in Nigeria and identify demographics (age, sex, education, income, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, temperature, living arrangement and cognitive scores) mediators of these relationship. Methods: This cross-sectional study conveniently recruited 359 older adults (mean (Sd) age= 67.9(6.8)) in Benin City. Spearman's rank correlations were used to investigate the relationship between the 2MWT and the 6MWT. Coefficients were interpreted as poor (<0.25), fair (0.25- 0.49), moderate (0.50-0.74) and excellent (≥0.75). Mediation models were tested using the 2- minute walk test (2MWT) as a predictor, and the six-minute walk test (6MWT) as the outcome and demographic variables listed above as mediators. Results: Both distance walked and gait speed in the first 2 minutes were moderately positively correlated (r = 0.636) with the distance walked and gait speed in the full 6MWT. None of the mediating factors had a significant impact on the relationships observed. Conclusion: Clinicians should exercise caution when considering replacing 6MWT with 2MWT, as 2MWT is moderately correlated with 6MWT. Keywords: 2MWT, 6MWT, older adults, comparison
