A Comparative Study of Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) amongst Healthy Individuals and COPD Patients

Background: Timed walking tests are widely used to evaluate functional exercise performance, as they are likely to measure the ability to undertake the activities of day-to-day life. Six minute walk test (6MWT) is an important tool in screening, management and prognostication of pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases and is considered to provide a reliable and valid measure of functional exercise capacity. The aim of the present study was to compare the six minute walk distance (6MWD) amongst healthy individuals and COPD patients in the age group of 40 70 years. Methods: A prospective study was carried out in the department of TB& Chest at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, Jharkhand from 1st January 2017 to 31st March 2018, including 140 subjects (70 healthy individuals and 70 COPD patients) in the age group of 40 70 years. The 6MWT was performed as per the guidelines laid by the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Results: We observed that the mean six minute walk distance was significantly less in COPD patients (408.00 74.20 meters) as compared to healthy subjects (626.69 64.67 meters) (p less than 0.001). Conclusion: The impairment in functional status affecting COPD patients is multifactorial, reflecting the respiratory and non-respiratory expressions of the disease. Impaired exercise capacity as assessed by the 6MWT better reflects the overall compromise than markers that only reflect the physiological impairment of lung function in COPD patients.