10-Meter Walk Test(10MWT)
Scoring
Administration.
14-meter walkway, time the middle 10 meters to allow acceleration/deceleration. Two trials at comfortable speed, two at fast; average each. Document assistive device, brace, footwear. Time: 5 minutes.
Scoring.
Gait speed in m/s.
MDC and MCID, stroke-specific.
- Stroke MCID comfortable speed: 0.06 m/s small meaningful, 0.13–0.16 m/s substantial (Tilson JK et al. *Phys Ther*. 2010;90:196–208; Perera S et al. *J Am Geriatr Soc*. 2006;54:743–749).
- MDC varies by baseline speed; 0.4–0.8 m/s stratum comfortable MDC ≈ 0.11 m/s (Hayashi 2023).
**Cut-points (Perry J et al. *Stroke*. 1995;26:982–989).**
- <0.4 m/s: household ambulator.
- 0.4–0.8 m/s: limited community ambulator.
- ≥0.8 m/s: community ambulator.
Bedside interpretation
What it measures.
Gait speed over a defined distance, comfortable and/or fast.
History.
Long-established as the simplest, most reliable gait performance measure across populations. Core Set CPG (Moore 2018) gives a strong recommendation (Level I).
When to use.
Any walking patient with goals related to speed, community ambulation, fall risk, or function.
When not to use.
Non-ambulatory patients (score 0 per Core Set conventions if goals/capacity exist).