Six-minute walk test closely correlates to “real-life” outdoor walking capacity and quality of life in patients with intermittent claudication

Abstract

The distance walked during the 6-minute walk test is closely correlated to outdoor walking capacity and health-related quality of life in IC patients. Our data support the use of 6MWD for routine clinical evaluation of walking capacity in IC patients.

Minimally Important Difference of the Absolute and Functional Claudication Distance in Patients with Intermittent Claudication

“…4,24 Moreover, an improvement of walking distance does not necessarily equal increased physical activity levels in patients with IC, 6 and it lacks correlation with IC specific HRQoL. 5 Evidently, walking distance is an imperfect outcome parameter. Nonetheless, it is widely used in clinical trials, as its value in assessing treatment effect has been well established.…”

“…1,3 However, the clinical value of different outcome parameters in IC is currently under debate. Treadmill measured walking distances have been disputed for being an inadequate reflection of walking capacity in daily life, 4,5 and for failing to address actual physical activity limitations. 6 Additionally, walking distances correlate moderately with HRQoL measures.…”

“…6 Additionally, walking distances correlate moderately with HRQoL measures. 5 Notwithstanding these concerns, change in walking distance remains an important indicator of treatment effect in clinical decision making. 1,2 Moreover, it functions as the primary end point in most trials assessing IC.…”

Letter by Le Faucheur et al Regarding Articles, “Six-Minute Walk Is a Better Outcome Measure Than Treadmill Walking Tests in Therapeutic Trials of Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease” and “The Treadmill Is a Better Functional Test Than the 6-Minute Walk Test in Therapeutic Trials of Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease”

“…Community-based global positioning system (GPS) measurement has been recently proposed to assess outdoor walking capacity in PAD patients, that is, under conditions expected to be closer to real life. [3][4][5] Although an emerging approach, GPS assessment provides some interesting insights, adding arguments to the aforementioned controversies.…”

“…Considering that an optimal functional test should directly correlate with patient-reported physical limitations, a recent study showed that patient-reported measures of walking limitation tended to correlate better with a GPS assessment of the maximal walking distance (MWD) than they do with the 6MWT and a graded TWT. 3 Regarding the agreement between GPS assessment and both TWT and 6MWT, available studies reported that GPS maximal 5 or total 4 walking distance was correlated to both TWT (r=0.81, P<0.001) and 6MWT (r=0.78, P<0.001). Median GPS MWD was reported to be on average 4.1 times higher than MWD from TWT.…”