Article

OBJECTIVES: To determine the relative and absolute reliability of the assessment
of ambulatory walking activity during 2 consecutive weeks in patients with
hematologic malignancies recovering at home from their medical treatment and to
compare the physical activity level of hematologic cancer patients after
high-dose chemotherapy with healthy subjects. DESIGN: Test-retest study of 2
consecutive 7-day recordings using the microprocessor-based step accelerometer 3
(SAM3). SETTING: Home and community. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (n=23) with
hematologic malignancies recovering from high-dose chemotherapy and healthy
controls (n=30). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The
intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC(3,1)) and its 95% confidence interval
(CI), SE of measurement procedure and its 95% CI, the smallest detectable
difference (SDD), the coefficient of variation (CV), and t tests for the
variables total steps and peak activity. RESULTS: The day-to-day and week-to-week
CVs for walking activity and peak activity were 35.17% and 13.17% and 18.61% and
6.90%, respectively. For relative reliability, the ICCs for 2 consecutive 7-day
recordings including the 95% CI for total steps and peak activity were 0.90 (95%
CI, 0.75-0.98) and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.66-0.94), respectively. The absolute
reliability for total steps and peak activity including the SE of measurement
procedure and the 95% CI were 564 (95% CI, +/-1106) and 2.42 steps (95% CI,
+/-4.74), respectively, for 2 consecutive 7-day recordings. The week-to-week SDD
was 1564 for total steps and 6.70 for peak activity. The 7-day mean for total
step activity was 5355 for the patients with hematologic malignancies and 6364
for healthy subjects (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate
that there is good relative reliability for the assessment of 2 consecutive 7-day
recordings of ambulatory walking activity, and it showed that the SDD derived
from this sample may be useful in detecting changes in daily walking activity in
hematologic cancer patients who are recovering from intensive medical treatment.
The study also documented compromised levels of ambulatory walking activity among
hematologic cancer patients recovering from high-dose chemotherapy as compared
with healthy controls.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Tiré à part : OUI