Department of Heart, Vessel, Thorax, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.
BMC Pulm Med. 2013 Aug 5;13:49. doi: 10.1186/1471-2466-13-49.
The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a simple, low tech, safe and well established, self-paced assessment tool to quantify functional exercise capacity in adults. The definition of normal 6MWT in children is especially demanding since not only parameters like height, weight and ethnical background influence the measurement, but may be as crucial as age and the developmental stage. The aim of this study is establishing reference values for the 6MWT in healthy children and adolescents in Switzerland and to investigate the influence of age, anthropometrics, heart rate, blood pressure and physical activity on the distance walked.
Children and adolescents between 5-17 years performed a 6MWT. Short questionnaire assessments about their health state and physical activities. anthropometrics and vitals were measured before and after a 6-minute walk test and were previously defined as secondary outcomes.
Age, height, weight and the heart rate after the 6MWT all predicted the distance walked according to different regression models: age was the best single predictor and mostly influenced walk distance in younger age, anthropometrics were more important in adolescents and females. Heart rate after the 6MWT was an important distance predictor in addition to age and outreached anthropometrics in the majority of subgroups assessed.
The 6MWT in children and adolescents is feasible and practical. The 6MWT distance depends mainly on age; however, heart rate after the 6MWT, height and weight significantly add information and should be taken into account mainly in adolescents. Reference equations allow predicting 6-minute walk test distance and may help to better assess and compare outcomes in young patients with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and are highly warranted for different populations.
六分钟步行测试（6MWT）是一种简单、低技术、安全且成熟的自我计时评估工具，可用于量化成年人的功能性运动能力。由于不仅身高、体重和种族背景等参数会影响测量，而且年龄和发育阶段可能同样重要，因此儿童正常 6MWT 的定义尤其具有挑战性。本研究旨在为瑞士健康儿童和青少年建立 6MWT 的参考值，并探讨年龄、人体测量学、心率、血压和体力活动对步行距离的影响。
5-17 岁的儿童和青少年进行了 6MWT。在进行 6 分钟步行测试之前和之后，对他们的健康状况和体力活动进行了简短的问卷调查，并将其定义为次要结果。
根据不同的回归模型，年龄、身高、体重和 6MWT 后的心率均预测了步行距离：年龄是最佳的单一预测因子，并且在较年轻的年龄组中主要影响步行距离，而人体测量学在青少年和女性中更为重要。除了年龄和人体测量学外，6MWT 后的心率在大多数评估的亚组中也是一个重要的距离预测因子。
6MWT 在儿童和青少年中是可行和实用的。6MWT 的距离主要取决于年龄；然而，6MWT 后的心率、身高和体重显著增加了信息，并且主要应在青少年中考虑。参考方程可以预测 6 分钟步行测试距离，有助于更好地评估和比较心血管和呼吸系统疾病的年轻患者的结果，并且对于不同人群来说是非常需要的。
