Reliability and Validity of the Five-Minute Walking Field Test for Estimating V˙O2 peak in Elderly Subjects with Knee Osteoarthritis
The purposes of the present study were (a) to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Price et al. (1988) 5-min walking field test, (b) to assess the validity of the test as an estimate of aerobic fitness, and (c) to derive a predictive model for estimating peak. The subjects were men and women age ≥50 with knee osteoarthritis. A high intraclass correlation coefficient was obtained in the reliability study, which included 60 subjects who did the 5-min walk twice within a maximum of 11 days. For the validity study, distances walked at the first walking trial were compared with peak values measured by a maximal treadmill test. The best predictive model included the following predictor variables: distance walked in 5 min, age, sex, and weight. Results indicate that the 5-minutc walking field test is a reliable and valid method for estimating peak in this population.