HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Article Archive Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (20) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Poulain, M. Articles by Préfaut, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Poulain, M. Articles by Préfaut, C.

6-Minute Walk Testing Is More Sensitive Than Maximal Incremental Cycle Testing for Detecting Oxygen Desaturation in Patients With COPD^*

^* From the Clinique du Souffle "La Solane" (Drs. Poulain, Palomba, Ceugniet, and Desplan), Osséja; UPRES-EA 701 Physiologie des Interactions (Dr. Préfaut), Service de Physiologie Clinique, Hôpital Arnaud de Villeneuve, Montpellier; UPRES-EA Sport (Dr. Varray), Performance, Santé, Faculté des Sciences du Sport, Montpellier; and Laboratoire Sport (Dr. Durand), Santé, Altitude, Département STAPS l’Ermitage, Font-Romeu, France.

Correspondence to: Magali Poulain, PhD, Clinique du Souffle "La Solane," 19 rue des Casteillets 66340 Osséja, France; e-mail: mpoulain{at}aol.com

Study objectives: Some respiratory patients exhibit oxygen desaturation during rehabilitative walking but not during maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). We evaluated exercise-induced desaturation during 6-min walk testing (6MWT) in comparison with CPET in patients with COPD and determined the reproducibility of the phenomenon.

Patients: We tested 80 consecutive patients with COPD (FEV₁, 62.4 ± 2% predicted) and 10 patients with supplementary COPD (FEV₁, 59.1 ± 5% predicted) [mean ± SEM] to determine the reproducibility.

Measurements and results: First, patients with COPD performed cycle CPET (first CPET [CPET-1]). Three days later, they performed two 6MWTs (first 6MWT [6MWT-1] and second 6MWT [6MWT-2]). Pulse oximetric saturation (SpO₂) was recorded every minute in both tests. Three groups emerged: desaturation at 6MWT not observed at CPET (DND) [n = 23], desaturation in both tests (n = 16), and no desaturation in either test (n = 41). Second, to evaluate reproducibility, 10 additional subjects with COPD who exhibited desaturation during two successive 6MWTs but not in CPET performed a second CPET (CPET-2) and a single-bout 6MWT (6MWT-3) in a supplementary trial. When two CPETs were performed, lack of O₂ desaturation was noted in both. O₂ desaturation was confirmed in 6MWT-2 and 6MWT-3 (7.4 ± 1% and 7.4 ± 1.5%, respectively).

Conclusion: Twenty-eight percent of patients with COPD presented DND. The phenomenon was reproducible and not protocol dependent, emphasizing the clinical interest of the 6MWT.

Key Words: COPD • oxygen desaturation • 6-min walking test

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. D. Marciniuk, S. J. Butcher, J. K. Reid, G. F. MacDonald, N. D. Eves, R. Clemens, and R. L. Jones The Effects of Helium-Hyperoxia on 6-min Walking Distance in COPD: A Randomized, Controlled Trial Chest, June 1, 2007; 131(6): 1659 - 1665. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Deboeck, G. Niset, J-L. Vachiery, J-J. Moraine, and R. Naeije Physiological response to the six-minute walk test in pulmonary arterial hypertension Eur. Respir. J., October 1, 2005; 26(4): 667 - 672. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Higenbottam Pulmonary Hypertension and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Case for Treatment Proceedings of the ATS, April 1, 2005; 2(1): 12 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. E. Johnson Which Exercise Test Should Be Used for Patients With Symptomatic COPD? Chest, September 1, 2004; 126(3): 668 - 670. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. E. Turner, P. R. Eastwood, N. M. Cecins, D. R. Hillman, and S. C. Jenkins Physiologic Responses to Incremental and Self-Paced Exercise in COPD: A Comparison of Three Tests Chest, September 1, 2004; 126(3): 766 - 773. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. N. Lama, K. R. Flaherty, G. B. Toews, T. V. Colby, W. D. Travis, Q. Long, S. Murray, E. A. Kazerooni, B. H. Gross, J. P. Lynch III, et al. Prognostic Value of Desaturation during a 6-Minute Walk Test in Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., November 1, 2003; 168(9): 1084 - 1090. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]