Assessment of physical function and exercise tolerance in older adults: Reproducibility and comparability of five measures

This study examined the reproducibility and comparability of five measures of Junction and exercise tolerance. The test battery and questionnaire on J unction and physical activity were administered twice, 7-10 days apart to 3 8 men and 12 women aged 54-80 years at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medic al Center. Tests included fast pace 4 and 20-meter walks, B-minute and grad ed treadmill walks, and a seated step test. All tests demonstrated good rep roducibility with Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients ranging f rom 0.84 to 0.98, and percent differences on retest ranging from 4 to 11%. Although correlations between different tests were all significant (range 0 .34-0.89), comparison of performance ranks and linear regression analyses i ndicated that the short fast walks and seated step test may not be suitable substitutes for treadmill or long self-paced corridor walks. Only 28% had the same quintile performance ranking on the step test as on the treadmill walk, and 36% had rankings 2 or more points apart. The fast 20 m walk shows the most promise as a low-level alternative to the B-minute walk; performa nces had a correlation of 0.73, 82% of ranks were within one point, and 20 m speed explained 42% of the variance in distance covered. More development is needed for comprehensive assessment of exercise tolerance in older adul ts; the 6-minute walk did not adequately discriminate fitness level in pers ons who walk regularly, and the treadmill posed problems for those with wal king difficulty. (Aging Clin. Exp. Res. 12: 274-280, 2000) (C) 2000, Editri ce Kurtis.