Development and evaluation of the Walking Estimated-Limitation Calculated by History questionnaire in patients with claudication

Abstract

The WELCH questionnaire is a simple tool to estimate walking limitation in patients with suspected peripheral artery disease. It is easily scored by mental calculation. It may help to standardize the estimation of walking limitation in routine clinical practice.

External Validation of the “Walking Estimated Limitation Calculated by History” (WELCH) Questionnaire in Patients with Claudication

“…9 It is also consistent with our previous observation in another population where the Pearson r coefficient of correlation of the WELCH with MWT was 0.65. 3 The non-Gaussian-type distributions observed in Fig. 3 are consistent with previously reported results.…”

“…10 Thus, we recently proposed the WELCH, which is based on the first three items of the EACH-Q and uses the usual walking speed item (with answers slightly changed), and, overall, uses an empirical, completely new, and very simple scoring method that can be calculated mentally without need of a computer. 3 The present study is the latest step in this development process. The correlations between WELCH score and treadmill results observed in this study (ranging from 0.58 to 0.60) in a large group of patients are consistent, but at the high end of the expected range of results previously reported with disease-specific tools.…”

“…1,2 Among the available tools to estimate walking capacity, the recently proposed "Walking Estimated Limitation Calculated by History" (WELCH) questionnaire is of interest because it is simple for patients to complete and is easily scored. 3 Previous publications have shown that its correlation with the maximal walking time (MWT) observed during a standard treadmill test is comparable with the one observed with the more complex Walking Impairment Questionnaire. 3 Further, the initial validation of the WELCH suggested that a score <25 predicts the inability to walk for 5 minutes on a treadmill with 75% sensitivity and 80% specificity in PAD patients.…”

“…3 Previous publications have shown that its correlation with the maximal walking time (MWT) observed during a standard treadmill test is comparable with the one observed with the more complex Walking Impairment Questionnaire. 3 Further, the initial validation of the WELCH suggested that a score <25 predicts the inability to walk for 5 minutes on a treadmill with 75% sensitivity and 80% specificity in PAD patients. In PAD patients, a walking time of <5 minutes on a treadmill characterises severe claudication according to the Rutherford classification.…”

“…The WELCH questionnaire was scored as previously reported. 3 In brief, the completely empiricallydefined scoring is as follows. Each of the eight answers within the first three questionnaire items has a value ranging from 0 to 7, and each of the five answers proposed for the last item dealing with usual walking speed has a coefficient ranging from 1 to 5.…”