Nordic Walking on Knee Osteoarthritis

The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) is widely used in the evaluation of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis. It is a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 24 items divided into 3 subscales: pain (5 items), stiffness (2 items) and physical function. WOMAC is available and validated in Spanish language. Overall, the sum of the three dimensions can have a minimum of zero points and a maximum of 96 points where 0 represents the best health status and 96 the worst possible status. The higher the score, the poorer the function.

The 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) is an outcome measure instrument that is often used, well-researched, self-reported measure of physical and mental health scores. The SF-36 has eight scaled scores; the scores are weighted sums of the questions in each section. Scores range from 0 - 100 where lower scores identifies more disability and higher scores identifies less disability. The sections are vitality, physical functioning, bodily pain, general health perceptions, physical role functioning, emotional role functioning, social role functioning and mental health.

The test begins with the subject sitting correctly in a chair with arms, the subject's back should resting on the back of the chair. The chair should be stableand positioned such that it will not move when the subject moves from sitting to standing. On the word "go" the subject sou will stand up, walk to the line on the floor (3 meters from the chair), turn around and walk back to the chair and sit down. Walk at his or her regular pace. Start timing on the word "go" and stop timing when the subject is seated again correctly in the chair with their back resting on the back of the chair. Interpretation: <10 seconds is normal, <20 seconds is good mobility, can go out alone, mobile without a gait aid and <30 seconds = problems, cannot go outside alone, requires a gait aid.

It counts the number of times the patient comes to a full standing position in 30 seconds. Record the number of times the patient stands in 30 seconds. An average score indicates a risk for falls: adjusted by age group and gender the scores ranges from less than 14 or less than 4.

The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is an assessment to determine a person's exercise tolerance. It is a low risk test that measures how far a person can walk in 6 minutes. It may be useful for measuring the functional ability and fitness of people with certain health conditions. Evidence suggests that the minimum score for healthy adults is 400 m. Scoring less than 400 meters suggests reduced exercise capacity.