Sagat Peter
GSD/Health and Physical Education Department, Sport Sciences and Diagnostics Research Group, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Physiol. 2023 Aug 4;14:1226585. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1226585. eCollection 2023.
The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is commonly used to assess the level of functional capacity of individuals with respiratory diseases. Although previous evidence has provided reference standards for the 6MWT in unhealthy older adults, no data have been provided for the Croatian healthy older populations. Therefore, the main purposes of the study were to define sex- and age-specific references for the 6MWT in older adults. Six-hundred and forty-three older adults (260 men and 383 women) aged 60-80 years were recruited in this observational cross-sectional study. The participants were instructed to walk the maximal distance possible for 6 min. The main outcome was the final score in the 6MWT conducted at a 30-m straight corridor. Men exhibited longer walking distance, compared to women (678.3 ± 59.1 vs. 653.8 ± 49.9 m, < 0.001) and younger men and women performed better, than their older counterparts ( < 0.001). However, the sex*age interaction effect showed no significant differences between men and women in the same age range ( = 0.865). This is the first study with the purpose of providing reference standards for the 6MWT in a large sample of Croatian older adults. Older men and women in lower percentiles may be treated as a "risky group" of individuals with a special attention of implementing interventions to enhance the performance.
6分钟步行试验（6MWT）常用于评估呼吸系统疾病患者的功能能力水平。尽管先前的证据为不健康的老年人提供了6MWT的参考标准，但尚未提供克罗地亚健康老年人群的数据。因此，本研究的主要目的是确定老年人6MWT的性别和年龄特异性参考标准。在这项观察性横断面研究中，招募了643名年龄在60至80岁之间的老年人（260名男性和383名女性）。参与者被要求在6分钟内尽可能走最长的距离。主要结果是在一条30米长的直走廊上进行的6MWT的最终得分。与女性相比，男性的步行距离更长（678.3±59.1米对653.8±49.9米，<0.001），并且年轻男性和女性的表现优于年长的同龄人（<0.001）。然而，性别*年龄交互作用效应显示，同一年龄范围内的男性和女性之间没有显著差异（=0.865）。这是第一项旨在为大量克罗地亚老年人提供6MWT参考标准的研究。处于较低百分位数的老年男性和女性可被视为一个“风险群体”，需要特别关注实施干预措施以提高其表现。
