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Introduction: The 6-minute walk test9s (6MWT) is widely used in patients with chronic respiratory disorders (CRD) referred to Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs (PRP). Recent recommendations (Holland, A.E. et al . Eur Respir J 2014; 44: 1428–1446) address the need to perform two consecutive measures to avoid the bias of learning effect (LE). Aims: To evaluate the LE in a population of patients with CRD referred to our PRP. Methods: Prospective study conducted over one year, including patients with CRD referred to PRP. Each patient performed two 6MWT separated by 30 minutes at the beginning of PRP. Output measures included: walked distance (WD), respiratory frequency (RF), heart rate (HR), peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and perception of muscle fatigue and dyspnea by Borg modified scale (BMS). Results: 21 patients were included, all male, with mean age of 67 years, mainly with diagnosis of CPOD (19 patients). 9 patients had taken the 6MWT previously (with a time gap higher than 6 months from this study). Comparing the first to the second test: WD was 422,52m VS 427,10m (p=0,657). The lower SpO2 was 82,33% VS 83,48% (p=0,299). The higher HR was 105,95bpm VS 102,62bpm (p=0,177). Final BMS for dyspnea was 4 VS 3 (p=0,666); final BMS for muscle fatigue was 3 VS 4 (p=0,266). Only 9 patients improved their WD between the two measures (34 m +- 39). Conclusions: Despite the small sample size, our results are contradictory to those previously published. The heterogeneity of our sample and the fact that most patients had performed the test previously may provide some explanations. Though preliminary these results raise the question whether it is necessary to repeat the test in this setting. |
