RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE 5-MINUTE WALKING FIELD-TEST FOR ESTIMATING (V)OVER-DOT-O-2 PEAK IN ELDERLY SUBJECTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

The purposes of the present study were (a) to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Price et al. (1988) 5-min walking field test (b) t o assess the validity of the test as an estimate of aerobic fitness, a nd (c) to derive a predictive model for estimating (V) over dot O-2 pe ak. The subjects were men and women age greater than or equal to 50 wi th knee osteoarthritis, A high intraclass correlation coefficient was obtained in the reliability study, which included 60 subjects who did the 5-min walk twice within a maximum of 11 days. For the validity stu dy, distances walked at the first walking trial were compared with (V) over dot O-2 peak values measured by a maximal treadmill test. The be st predictive model included the following predictor variables: distan ce walked in 5 min, age, sex, and weight. Results indicate that the 5- minute walking field test is a reliable and valid method for estimatin g (V) over dot O-2 peak in this population.