Methods of 10-Meter Walk Test and Repercussions for Reliability Obtained in Typically Developing Children

Research and clinical settings use the 10-meter walk test (10MWT) to measure locomotor capacity with considerablemethodological diversity. Comparison between healthy and disabled children is frequent; however, the reproducibility of 10MWTusing different methods is unknown.Objectives. This study analysed intrasubject, test-retest reliability, and agreement of fourmethods of 10MWT, exploring the influence of pace, acceleration-deceleration phases, and anthropometric measurements whencalculating mean velocity.Methods. This cross-sectional study evaluated 120 typical children, both sexes, aged 6, 8, 10, and 12(n=30for each age). The mean times and velocities of the path (10 m) and middle path (6 m) obtained at a self-selected andfast pace were analysed. Initial assessment and another after seven days recorded three measurements per method (sV6 = self-selected pace and 6 m; sV10 = self-selected pace and 10 m; fV6 = fast pace and 6 m; fV10 = fast pace and 10 m). Interclasscorrelation coefficient (ICC), multiple regression, and Snedecor-F test (5% significance level) were used.Results. The fV10method had high intrasubject reliability for all tested ages (0:70 < ICC > 0:89); sV10 exhibited high intrasubject reliability forages 6, 8, and 12 (0:70 < ICC > 0:89) and moderate for age 10 (0:50 < ICC < 0:69).Test-retest reliability at sV6 and fV6 did notreach high ICC in any tested ages. The test-retest reliability at sV10 and fV10 was moderate for ages 6, 8, and 12(0:50 < ICC > 0:69) and poor for age 10 (0:25 < ICC > 0:49). There was no agreement between methods: sV6 versus sV10(mean difference = 0:91 m/s;SEM = 0:036); fV6 versus fV10 (mean difference = 1:70;SEM = 0:046). The fV6 method versus fV10overestimated the velocity (bias = 1:70 m/s).Conclusions. For typical children, the method that ensured the highestintrasubject reliability used fast pace and 10 m. Moreover, test-retest reliability increased when adopting 10 m at both self-selected and fast pace. The methods were not equivalent but were related, and those that did not compute the entirepathway overestimated the results.