BACKGROUND Our purpose was to evaluate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in patients with heart failure (HF) enrolled in the Randomized Evaluation of Strategies for Left Ventricular Dysfunction (RESOLVD) pilot study. METHODS A total of 768 patients was enrolled in a multicenter randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of candesartan, enalapr...

BACKGROUND Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension who achieve a six-minute walk distance of 380-440 m may have improved prognosis. Using the randomized controlled trial of macitentan in pulmonary arterial hypertension (SERAPHIN), the association between six-minute walk distance and long-term outcomes was explored. METHODS Patients with six-minute walk distance data at Month 6 were dich...

Respiratory rehabilitation improves exercise capacity and quality of life in younger patients but is untried in the aged. We aimed to: (a) assess repeatability of the 6-minute walk test, factors affecting it and its relation to quality of life in elderly patients with chronic obstructive airways disease (COAD); (b) assess compliance of such patients with an intensive respiratory rehabilitation ...

PURPOSES: (a) To compare exercise performance and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) between older Caucasians and African-Americans, (b) to assess the relationship between exercise performance and LTPA, and (c) to determine whether group differences in exercise performance persist after adjusting for differences in LTPA. METHODS: A total of 207 Caucasians and 160 African-Americans who were ...

BACKGROUND Elucidation of the relative importance of commonly targeted biomechanical variables to poststroke long-distance walking function would facilitate optimal intervention design. OBJECTIVES To determine the relative contribution of variables from 3 biomechanical constructs to poststroke long-distance walking function and identify the biomechanical changes underlying posttraining improv...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between dynamic hyperinflation and dyspnea and to clarify the characteristics of dyspnea during the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Twenty-three subjects with stable moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (age 73.8±5.8 years, all male) took part in this study. During the 6MWT, vent...

INTRODUCTION Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an increasingly common cause of death worldwide. Its cardinal symptoms include breathlessness and severely reduced exercise capacity. Several patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are used to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL), functional performance, and breathlessness in patients with COPD. Exercise testing is employed ...

BACKGROUND The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is a common outcome measurement in cardiac rehabilitation. However, a search of the literature found no established guidelines for use of the 6MWT in cardiac rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES Systematic review of the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the 6MWT in cardiac rehabilitation. DATA SOURCES OvidMEDLINE, SPORTdiscus, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochran...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a submaximal level of exercise on balance performance under a variety of conditions. MATERIAL AND METHOD Thirteen community-dwelling older persons with intact foot sensation (age = 66.69 ± 8.17 years, BMI = 24.65 ± 4.08 kg/m(2), female, n = 6) volunteered to participate. Subjects' balance performances were measured using the M...

RATIONALE The response characteristics of the 6 minute walk test (6MWT) in studies of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are only poorly understood, and the change in walk distance that constitutes the minimum important difference (MID) over time is unknown. OBJECTIVES To examine changes over time in distance walked (ie, 6MWD) during the 6MWT and to estimate the change in distance that const...