The Treadmill Is a Better Functional Test Than the 6-Minute Walk Test in Therapeutic Trials of Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease

Effects of oral N-acetylcysteine on walking capacity, leg reactive hyperemia, and inflammatory and angiogenic mediators in patients with intermittent claudication

“…In fact, marked improvements in muscle performance after NAC are particularly evident during small-muscle mass exercise at submaximal intensities (26,29). Nonetheless, we chose treadmill testing instead of small-muscle mass exercise because treadmill walking mimics more closely what these patients experience in daily life (25).…”

Screening and Basic Workup of a Patient with Peripheral Vascular Disease – A Primer of Physicians

“…The goal is to push patients to their maximally tolerated pain that results in an inability to walk any further. Constant-load protocols may be limited in that some patients with mild PAD may be able to walk for extended periods of time without claudication symptoms [25]. In contrast, graded treadmill testing has a large dynamic range that can reproducibly define a patient's peak PAD-limited peak walking and claudication onset time [26].…”

“…In contrast, graded treadmill testing has a large dynamic range that can reproducibly define a patient's peak PAD-limited peak walking and claudication onset time [26]. The 6-minute walking can also be used to evaluate functional status in PAD, though data supporting its use in PAD is less extensive than for graded exercise treadmill testing [25]. Nevertheless, the 6-minute walking test may more directly measure outcomes that are relevant to daily function and quality of life than treadmill testing [27].…”

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

“…The MID can be used to estimate clinically relevant improvement and deterioration, thus giving meaning to outcome measures such as walking distance. Hiatt et al 10 postulated an established MID as a requirement for an optimal functional test in PAD. Determination of the MID of walking distance could facilitate clinicians and researchers in their interpretation of this widely used outcome measure.…”