Assessing the Reliability and Validity of a Shorter Walk Test Compared With the 10-Meter Walk Test for Measurements of Gait Speed in Healthy, Older Adults

While the reliability of both walking tests is excellent, the 4-Meter Walk Test does not exhibit a high enough degree of concurrent validity with the 10-Meter Walk Test to be used interchangeably for gait speed assessments in healthy, older adults. We therefore recommend using the 10-Meter Walk Test to obtain the most valid clinical assessment of walking speed when using it as a 1-time indicator of health status.