A Review of the Six-Minute Walk Test: Its Implication as a Self-Administered Assessment Tool

Abstract

Adapting the 6MWT as a patient-reported outcome measure may enhance the capacity, not only for clinicians to monitor functional status, but also promote self-management by enabling individuals to monitor changes in their functional capacity.

Six-minute walking test predicts maximal fat oxidation in obese children

“…Walking is, of course, one of the normal activities of life; it reflects the capacity to undertake daily activities. 31,32 Compared with the incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test, the 6MWT did not provide more specific information; however, its simplicity, ease of administration, low cost and routine use would advise this test evaluation in healthy subjects or patients, and in adults or children. The six-min walking test has been validated by high correlation with workloads, HR, oxygen saturation and the dyspnea responses when compared with standard bicycle ergometry and treadmill exercise tests.…”

Exercise Standards for Testing and Training

“…This assessment has frequently been used in patients with chronic disease, such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and peripheral arterial occlusive disease. [53][54][55] Patients are instructed to walk down a 100-foot corridor at their own pace, attempting to walk as much distance as possible in 6 minutes. At the end of the 6-minute interval, the total distance walked is determined and the symptoms experienced by the patient recorded.…”

Redução da capacidade funcional e exacerbação da dor durante o esforço do teste de caminhada de 6 minutos em mulheres com fibromialgia

“…The six minutes walk test (6MWT) is a simple, safe and low cost test 6 that has gained important attention in the clinical and scientific fields 7,8 . The 6MWT has already been used in previous studies of patients with FM and has shown to have good reliability 5,9 .…”

“…The 6MWT has good applicability, because it evaluates, in a global way, the integration of responses of all physiological systems involved in the performance of the exercise 10 . The distance walked during the 6MWT has been suggested to reflect the ability to performed activities of daily living (ADL) because, in general, ADL are performed at submaximal levels 6,10 . The test is also indicated for the evaluation of cardiorespiratory aptitude 10 as previous studies have reported correlations between the distance walked and oxygen consumption (r=0.51 to 0.90) 11 .…”