Ten-metre walk, with or without a turn?

OBJECTIVE: To compare results obtained using different procedures to measure 10-metre walking time. DESIGN: Walking was timed over a straight 10 m, and over 5 m with return. Further, the time taken to turn was measured directly. SETTING: Rehabilitation department of a university hospital. SUBJECTS: Patients who had walking disability after stroke. RESULTS: In the group of 43 patients, the time taken to walk 5 m and return was 3.3 (SD 5.0)s longer than the time to walk 10 m straight, but there was a large variation with some patients walking faster. The measured time to turn in a second group of 27 patients was 3.2 (SD 1.6)s. The times taken to walk 10 m straight and 5 m and return, and the time taken to turn were all highly correlated (r = 0.69 or more). CONCLUSIONS: Timing walking over 5 m with a return is an acceptable alternative to the 10 m straight walk, but the actual time taken varies. On average, the walk with a turn is 3.2 s longer but in individual patients the difference may be much more or less. Sometimes the walk with a turn is even faster than that without.