• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.189-199
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to investigate the test-retest reliability, minimal detectable change (MDC), and the effect of turning direction on the time and number of steps taken during the 180 ° turn test in subacute stroke patients. Additionally, it examined the concurrent validity of the 180 ° turn test. Methods : The study included 28 subacute stroke patients. The test-retest reliability of the 180 ° turn test according to the direction of rotation (paretic and non-paretic sides) by comparing the consistency between the initial assessment and a reassessment conducted 7 days later. Concurrent validity was examined by assessing the correlation of the 180 ° turn test with the Fugl-Meyer assessment of lower extremity (FMA-L/E), Berg balance scale (BBS), 10-meter walk test (10 mWT), and timed up and go test (TUG). Results : The ICC for the time taken to turn 180 ° to the affected and unaffected sides were 0.971 and 0.918, respectively, indicating excellent reliability. The ICC for the number of steps were 0.944 and 0.932, respectively. The MDC for the time taken were 0.33 seconds (affected side) and 0.67 seconds (unaffected side). The MDC for the number of steps were 0.49 (affected side) and 0.63 (unaffected side). The paired t-test showed the limited community ambulator group took significantly longer to turn to the unaffected side (p<.048). Significant correlations were found between the 180 ° turn test and FMA-L/E (r= -0.395 to -0.416), BBS (r= -0.622 to -0.684), 10 mWT (r= 0.720 to 0.730), and TUG (r= 0.684 to 0.790) (p<.05 to .01). Conclusion : The 180 ° turn test demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability and high validity when correlated with other functional measures in subacute stroke patients. MDC values indicated high reliability. Faster walking speeds (≥0.95 m/s) were unaffected by turning direction, while slower speeds (<0.58 m/s) showed significant effects. The 180 ° turn test is a simple, sensitive, and reliable tool for evaluating turning ability in subacute stroke patients.