Reliability, validity, and reference norms of one-minute walk test in assessing cardiopulmonary functional capacity in healthy young adults: a pilot study

Abstract

Introduction. Although the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and 2-minute walk test (2MWT) are widely accepted tools for analysing functional capacity, in most clinical settings and populations, they may not be possible to apply owing to time and space constraints. Hence, an alternative walk test, one-minute walk test (1MWT), was introduced. There is, however, a lack of evidence on its reference norms, reliability, and validity. Thus, we aimed to estimate the reference norms, reliability, and validity of 1MWT among healthy young adults. Methods. A sample of 86 healthy adults aged 18–25 years were recruited by the simple random sampling technique for the normative study, and 14 participants for the validity and reliability study. They were asked to perform 1MWT and 6MWT in accordance with the American Thoracic Society guidelines. 1MWT was performed twice by each participant, with a minimum of 2 days to estimate test-retest reliability. The concurrent validity of 1MWT was established with 6MWT. Results. The reference norm of 1MWT with mean and 95% confidence interval is 74.3 (72.1–76.6) m. The test-retest reliability of 1MWT was estimated as an interclass correlation coefficient of 0.76 (0.60–0.86) with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.76. A good degree of concurrent validity exists between 1MWT and 6MWT, with Spearman’s = 0.79 (p < 0.001). Conclusions. 1MWT has a good test-retest reliability and a good degree of concurrent validity with 6MWT. The reference norms of 1MWT have also been established.