Functional mobility performance in an elderly population with lumbar spinal stenosis.

OBJECTIVES

To compare the functional mobility (FM) of elderly apparently healthy (AH) subjects and patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and to evaluate the reliability and validity of the FM tests.

DESIGN

Using the test-retest paradigm, FM performance was assessed in AH subjects. A single FM assessment was conducted on a group of LSS subjects. Between-group performance comparisons were made with the AH subjects and the LSS patients.

SETTING

Orthopedic clinical practice (LSS subjects) and university laboratory (AH subjects).

PARTICIPANTS

Fifty-seven patients seen in an orthopedic clinical practice for LSS and 96 AH subjects who were volunteers identified from among participants of The Lifelong Learning Society at Florida Atlantic University.

INTERVENTIONS

Treadmill walk (TW) test (at 53.6 m/min, 1% increase in grade per min) until 70% of the predicted maximum heart rate was achieved or associated pain made participation uncomfortable. Three trials each of a sit-to-stand (SS, rise from chair as quickly as possible without using arms) and a weight-carrying (WC, walk 20 m as quickly as possible for time carrying 10% of the body weight evenly distributed in hand-held weights) test. The AH group repeated all tests on a separate day.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Time to walk treadmill, stand from sitting position, walk 20 meters, and analysis of variance between groups.

RESULTS

Significant between-group differences were found for the TW, SS, and WC tests. Test-retest r values of .839 for the TW, .848 for the SS, and .833 for the WC were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The AH group demonstrated greater FM than the LSS group. The performance disparity between groups may suggest context validity, while the AH groups test-retest stability reflects reliability.