Reference Centiles to Monitor the 6-minute-walk Test in Ambulant Children with Cerebral Palsy and Identification of Effects after Rehabilitation Utilizing Whole-body Vibration.

BACKGROUND Children with cerebral palsy present age-driven development in gross motor skills and walking capacity. AIMS To precisely monitor the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in children with CP, GMFCS levels 1 and 2 over 6 months and to assess the effect of a 6-month rehabilitation program including whole-body vibration. METHODS Retrospective analysis of data of 157 children with CP who received standardized rehabilitation (DRKS00011331). 6MWT was assessed at the start (M0) and end of the training (M6), as well as at a 6-month follow-up (M12). Centiles were created using the lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) method. RESULTS We created 6MWT percentiles using data of all 157 children (M0 data). A medium treatment effect size (Cohen's d = 0.69) was found (M6 and M12 data). CONCLUSIONS The generated centiles may help monitor 6MWT changes over 6 months. Combining WBV and conventional physiotherapy can significantly improve 6MWT in children with CP. ABBREVIATIONS 6MWT: 6-Minute Walk Test; CP: Cerebral palsy; ES: effect size; GMFCS: Gross Motor Function Classification System; GMFM-66: Gross Motor Function Measure 66; LOESS: locally weighted scatterplot smoothing; LMS: lambda-mu-sigma; MCID: minimal clinical important difference; SD: standard deviation; SRM: standardized response mean; WBV: whole-body vibration.