Six-minute walk test in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

摘要

The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a simple method for investigating exercise capacity in patients with advanced lung disease.1,2 Unlike patients undergoing traditional cardiopulmonary exercise testing, those undergoing the 6MWT do not, as a rule, reach maximal respiratory and heart rates, the 6MWT therefore being a submaximal test. The 6MWT is advantageous because walking is a task that patients are familiar with and because the 6MWT is inexpensive, requiring only a trained health professional, a flat corridor of approximately 30 m in length, a sphygmomanometer, and a pulse oximeter.