Within-day test-retest reliability of the 6-min walk test in patients with pulmonary fibrosis

• Published in: The European respiratory journal Vol. 49; no. 2; p. 1601907
• Main Authors: Bloem, Ada E M, Veltkamp, Marcel, Custers, Jan W H, Dolk, Hanneke M, Grutters, Jan C, Spruit, Martijn A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England European Respiratory Society Journals Ltd 01-02-2017
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Blood Pressure; Dyspnea; Europe; Female; Fibrosis; Humans; Intolerance; Lung diseases; Male; Middle Aged; Netherlands; Oxygen - chemistry; Parenchyma; Prospective Studies; Pulmonary fibrosis; Pulmonary Fibrosis - diagnosis; Pulmonary Fibrosis - physiopathology; Quality of life; Reproducibility of Results; Respiration; Respiratory Function Tests; Time Factors; Walk Test; Walking; Netherlands; Europe
• ISSN: 0903-1936; 1399-3003
• DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01907-2016

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are a group of more than 150 different disorders characterized by inflammation of the lung parenchyma, or interstitium, often followed by the occurrence of pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with pulmonary fibrosis complain about exertional dyspnoea, exercise intolerance and reduced quality of life [1]. Poor exercise tolerance and oxygen desaturation during exercise are associated with poor survival [2]. Therefore, measuring exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary fibrosis is an important element of clinical management. The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is one of the most widely used clinical tests of functional exercise capacity in people with pulmonary fibrosis [3, 4].