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Introduction. Research and clinical settings use the 10-meter walk test (10MWT) to measure locomotor capacity with considerable methodological diversity. Comparison between healthy and disabled children is frequent; however, the reproducibility of 10MWT using different methods is unknown. Objectives. This study analysed intrasubject, test-retest reliability, and agreement of four methods of 10MWT, exploring the influence of pace, acceleration-deceleration phases, and anthropometric measurements when calculating mean velocity. Methods. This cross-sectional study evaluated 120 typical children, both sexes, aged 6, 8, 10, and 12 (n=30 for each age). The mean times and velocities of the path (10 m) and middle path (6 m) obtained at a self-selected and fast pace were analysed. Initial assessment and another after seven days recorded three measurements per method (sV6 = self-selected pace and 6 m; sV10 = self-selected pace and 10 m; fV6 = fast pace and 6 m; fV10 = fast pace and 10 m). Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC), multiple regression, and Snedecor-F test (5% significance level) were used. Results. The fV10 method had high intrasubject reliability for all tested ages (0.70<ICC>0.89); sV10 exhibited high intrasubject reliability for ages 6, 8, and 12 (0.70<ICC>0.89) and moderate for age 10 (0.50<ICC<0.69).Test-retest reliability at sV6 and fV6 did not reach high ICC in any tested ages. The test-retest reliability at sV10 and fV10 was moderate for ages 6, 8, and 12 (0.50<ICC>0.69) and poor for age 10 (0.25<ICC>0.49). There was no agreement between methods: sV6 versus sV10 (mean difference=0.91 m/s; SEM=0.036); fV6 versus fV10 (mean difference=1.70; SEM=0.046). The fV6 method versus fV10 overestimated the velocity (bias=1.70 m/s). Conclusions. For typical children, the method that ensured the highest intrasubject reliability used fast pace and 10 m. Moreover, test-retest reliability increased when adopting 10 m at both self-selected and fast pace. The methods were not equivalent but were related, and those that did not compute the entire pathway overestimated the results.

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BACKGROUND:Grip strength is used to infer functional status in several pathological conditions, and the hand dynamometer has been used to estimate performance in other areas. However, this relationship is controversial in neuromuscular diseases and studies with the bulb dynamometer comparing healthy children and children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) are limited.OBJECTIVE:The evolution of grip strength and the magnitude of weakness were examined in boys with DMD compared to healthy boys. The functional data of the DMD boys were correlated with grip strength.METHOD:Grip strength was recorded in 18 ambulant boys with DMD (Duchenne Group, DG) aged 4 to 13 years (mean 7.4±2.1) and 150 healthy volunteers (Control Group, CG) age-matched using a bulb dynamometer (North Coast- NC70154). The follow-up of the DG was 6 to 33 months (3-12 sessions), and functional performance was verified using the Vignos scale.RESULTS:There was no difference between grip strength obtained by the dominant and non-dominant side for both groups. Grip strength increased in the CG with chronological age while the DG remained stable or decreased. The comparison between groups showed significant difference in grip strength, with CG values higher than DG values (confidence interval of 95%). In summary, there was an increment in the differences between the groups with increasing age. Participants with 24 months or more of follow-up showed a progression of weakness as well as maintained Vignos scores.CONCLUSIONS:The amplitude of weakness increased with age in the DG. The bulb dynamometer detected the progression of muscular weakness. Functional performance remained virtually unchanged in spite of the increase in weakness.

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