Predictive discriminative accuracy of walking abilities at discharge for community ambulation levels at 6 months post-discharge among inpatients with subacute stroke.
Tatsuya Igarashi, Ren Takeda, Yuta Tani and 5 others
PMID 36866018WHAT IT FOUND
Walking tests at discharge predict community ambulation six months later.
A 6-minute walk distance of 299 meters or a walking speed of 0.94 meters per second best identified patients who would become unlimited community walkers. These cut-offs help set realistic goals for subacute stroke patients.
Key findings
01A 6-minute walking distance cut-off of 299 meters at discharge accurately predicted unlimited community ambulation at 6 months.
02A comfortable walking speed cut-off of 0.94 meters per second at discharge also accurately predicted unlimited community ambulation at 6 months.
03Walking tests at discharge did not significantly distinguish between household/most-limited walkers and least-limited community walkers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study could not distinguish between patients who would be household/most-limited walkers and those who would be least-limited community walkers, limiting its usefulness for predicting lower-level mobility outcomes. The sample was restricted to patients who could already walk at baseline, so findings do not apply to those with more severe mobility impairments. The study was conducted during the coronavirus pandemic, which may have reduced physical activity levels in the community and affected the 6-month outcomes. Groups were unbalanced in size, and baseline characteristics like stroke type and sensory disturbances differed significantly between groups, which may have influenced the results.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these cut-offs to predict who will remain limited to household walking. The tests only accurately distinguished patients who would achieve full community ambulation from those with any level of limitation. They failed to separate household walkers from those with limited community mobility.