Walking Speed as an Alternative Measure of Functional Status in Patients with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

Objective The main objective was to compare estimated walking perimeter (WP) and actual WP during a free walking test (6-minute walk test [6MWT]) in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). The second objective was to describe the correlation between measured gait parameters and functional parameters. Methods This was a single-center prospective study including 38 patients with symptomatic LSS (23 men, 15 women; mean age, 69.3 ± 7.9 years). The intervention was the 6MWT. For the main outcome measure, patients were first asked to verbally estimate their WP. Then, WP was evaluated using a 6MWT at a self-selected speed. In the absence of need to stop, and if a distance of 500 m was not reac…