Discussion week 2 – Question 2
Based on the research related to walking speed, several researchers feel that walking speed should be the 6th Vital Sign and assessed as a part of an initial physical therapy evaluation. Do you agree or disagree? Why? How is walking speed related to a person’s function and quality of life? How could you use walking speed in your clinical setting to enhance your patient’s outcomes?
Reference Articles below:
Attached are the American Thoracic Society’s guidelines for performing a 6 minute walk test.
6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) a meta-analysis of data from apparently healthy elders – review of multiple trials, gives an idea of ranges of distances for older adults. Quick reference, but use of formula takes into account patients height.
2 minute walk test. normative data 2 mwt.pdf
2 minute step test: review of psychometric properties
Post a single 3- or 4-paragraph response that addresses the following prompts (your Instructor will notify you of the due date).
Please make sure to adhere to AMA citation format. This is the style used by the APTA and in this program. and is to be used when creating your reference list for your class assignments. When citing articles on the discussion board you may just put the first author et. al (Shumway-Cook, et al. and then the rest of the citation).
When citing articles on the discussion board you may just put the first author et. al (Shumway-Cook, et al. and then the rest of the citation). Please let me know if you have any questions.
Example: Shumway-Cook A, Baldwin M, Polissar NL, Gruber W. Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults. Phys Ther. 1997;77(8):812-819.