Level of the exercise tolerance in healthy adolescents

Recently, much attention is paid to a comprehensive assessment of the adaptive capacity of the body, namely the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Exercise tests are used for this purpose. Exercise tolerance reflects the patient's degree of physical fitness and his ability to tolerance to the imposed physical activity. This indicator is one of the main characteristics of the cardiovascular system. To assess the tolerance to exercise, recently used to estimate the walking distance, which allows to determine the adaptive capacity of the body in response to minimal exercise. Currently, the 6-minute walking test is widely used in cardiology and pulmonology in adults, who have correlated the walking distance with indicators of their quality of life and with the functional class of heart failure. Also in adults, the walking distance in 6 minutes is used as a good predictor of death and disability in various cardiopulmonary diseases. In recent years, this test is increasingly used in pediatrics. This test has a number of advantages: it is easy to perform, reflects daily activity, does not require special equipment and a separate room, which makes it accessible and inexpensive to use. The aim of the study was to examine the literature data on a 6-minute walking test in healthy adolescents and compare them with the performance of Ukrainian peers. Materials and methods. 11 publications were analyzed, where the results of the six-minute walking test in children from different countries of the world and different age categories are presented. This test was performed on 46 healthy adolescents and analyzed depending on gender, age and body mass index. Result. A study of the literature showed that the 6-minute walking test is also used in paediatrics. Its data vary in children around the world and depend on weight, sex and age. The high enough value of the 6-minute walking test to assess exercise tolerance is emphasized. Conclusions. The indicators of the six-minute walking test in Ukrainian adolescents correspond to the world average, correlate with age, does not depend on gender and can be used to compare with the results of sick children.