Validating the 6-minute walk test as an indicator of recovery in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Abstract

The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) has been applied to assess postsurgical recovery in cardiac populations. This study mainly investigated whether the 6MWT could serve as an indicator for physical functioning in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.Participants completed the 6MWT and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) at baseline, discharge, and 3 months postoperatively, in order to analyze the construct validity and responsiveness of the 6MWT. The participants in this study were 125 patients (92 males and 33 females) with an average age of 65.1 ± 11.1 years. The mean 6MWT was 308.9 ± 77.3 m in the preoperative phase, decreased to 277.3 ± 85.7 m at discharge, and returned to 378.1 ± 95.2 m at 3-month follow-up. The results showed that the 6-minute walk distances at baseline and at 3-month follow-up were moderately to highly correlated with the physical functioning subscale of the SF-36 (rs = .44 and .54, respectively) and had weak correlation with the nonphysical functioning subscales. The recovery level of physical functioning is meaningfully associated with the 6MWT change from baseline to discharge and from baseline to 3-month follow-up. Patients with higher New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Classification levels had lower 6MWT. Additionally, the 6MWT was sensitive to change during the perioperative period (effect sizes from −0.51 to 1.72).The supporting evidence includes the construct validity and responsiveness of the 6MWT. This study supports the feasibility of the 6MWT as an evaluation tool of physical functioning for assessment of postcardiac surgical recovery.

Improvements in exercise capacity of older adults during cardiac rehabilitation

“…The 6mwt can be regarded a valid measure of exercise capacity in CR participants and it can distinguish differences in recovery between different groups, as well as changes in recovery at different time points. 16 Based on previous findings, an improvement of 45 m is considered to be clinically relevant. 17…”

A COVID-19 Rehabilitation Prospective Surveillance Model for Use by Physiotherapists

“…A study stated that young and middle-aged adults who are moderately and/or severely affected usually have hypertension and overweight and suffer a significant impact on their quality of life [ 26 ]. It is therefore important to include a quality-of-life assessment [ 74 ] to check patients’ perception of their own physical and psychological well-being [ 75 ], which is already known to suffer from a reduction in all spheres [ 76 ].…”

Six-minute walk test in cardiac rehabilitation

“…Результаты ТШХ представляют интерес с позиции их взаимосвязи с другими тестами, оценивающими клиническое состояние больного, например, с показателями качества жизни. В группах больных, вовлеченных в КР, сообщается об умеренной корреляционной связи ДТШХ с показателями качества жизни по опросникам: DASI (Duke Activity Status Index, r=0,502, р<0,001) и Physical Function subscale SF36 (r=0,624, р<0,001; r=0,54, р<0,001) [27,34] продолжения научных исследований в этой области с увеличением числа обследуемых. Изучения требует и вопрос о возможности применения результатов ТШХ для прогнозирования исходов ССЗ, поскольку количество подобных исследований ограничено.…”

“…В другом исследовании [38], у больных >65 лет (n=882), перенесших КШ, ДТШХ ≥300 м до начала КР была связана с низкой смертностью в последующие 5 лет. Chen Y-C, et al (2018) высказались о необходимости проведения ТШХ при выписке больного после кардиохирургической операции и подтвердили связь ДТШХ >300 м с меньшим риском повторных госпитализаций и смерти в течение 2 лет после вмешательства [34].…”