The psychometric properties of the 3-m backward walk test in people with Migraine.

PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to examine the test–retest reliability of the 3-m backward walk test (3MBWT), the minimum detectable change (MDC) in the 3MBWT, the concurrent and known-groups validity of the 3MBWT in people with migraine (PwM), and the cut-off time which best discriminate PwM from healthy people.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study. Forty-seven PwM and 47 healthy people were recruited. The 3MBWT was performed along with the cervical joint position sense test, Fremantle Neck Awareness Questionnaire, Berg Balance Scale, timed up and go test, and numeric pain rating scale.

RESULTS

The 3MBWT showed excellent test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.907–0.971). The MDC was 0.76 s. The 3MBWT had fair-to-strong correlations with the other measurements. Significant differences in the 3MBWT times were found between PwM and healthy people (p < 0.001). The 3MBWT time of 4.09 s was determined to best discriminate PwM from healthy people.

CONCLUSIONS

The 3MBWT is a reliable, valid, and clinically available measurement tool in assessing the backward walking performance for PwM. It can detect deficits in backward walking performance and is associated with disease-specific impairments in migraine.