013. Complementary role of 6-minutes walking test (6MWT) in the assessment of functional status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Alexander G. Mathioudakis; Efstathia I. Evangelopoulou; Georgios C. Karapiperis; Elias I. Perros; Georgia Simou; Evridiki Kiritsi; Victoria Chatzimavridou-Grigoriadou; Georgios A. Mathioudakis

doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.AB013

The Pan Hellenic Congress Abstracts

013. Complementary role of 6-minutes walking test (6MWT) in the assessment of functional status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Alexander G. Mathioudakis^1,2, Efstathia I. Evangelopoulou³, Georgios C. Karapiperis³, Elias I. Perros³, Georgia Simou³, Evridiki Kiritsi³, Victoria Chatzimavridou-Grigoriadou², Georgios A. Mathioudakis²

¹Chest Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK; ²Respiratory Assembly, Hellenic Society for The Advancement of Biomedical Research, Athens, Greece; ³Respiratory Department, General Hospital of Nikaia “St. Panteleimon”, Piraeus, Greece

Background: Despite its limited repeatability, spirometry is the most widely used method of assessment of the pulmonary ventilation. However, it is not a safe measure of the functional reserve of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with multiple comorbidities. Consequently, a stress test that would include cardiovascular and neuromuscular variables would be a useful complimentary test.

Objective: The aim of this observational study was to investigate the correlation between FEV₁ and 6MWT, in patients with stable COPD (mean FEV₁% pred =43.9%, SD =15.3).

Methods: 174 male ex-smokers with stable COPD, with a mean age of 63±6.7 years, mean height of 171.4 and weight of 73.9 were included and grouped according to their GOLD severity staging. A control group consisting of 87 healthy volunteers (mean age: 64±6.2, height: 175.2 and weight: 70.5) was also included. All the patient and controls had spirometry before and after bronchodilatation, on a daily scaled turbine spirometer, and 6MWT, on a 10-meter straight corridor. Elapsed distance (eD), haemoglobin saturation (Sats) and heart rate (HR) were continuously monitored during the 6MWT. All the data of our study were imported in an excel sheet for statistical analysis.

Results: Among the main results of our study, FEV₁ decrease by year of age was less pronounced among healthy volunteers (21 mL/year, r²=0.4) compared to COPD patients (53 mL/year, r²=0.06). Similarly, volunteers had a significantly lower decrease by year of age in eD (2.3 m/year, r²=0.4) compared to COPD patients (7.7 m/year, r²=0.7). A more pronounced decrease of eD by year of age was recognized in patients with later COPD stages, while weight was more significantly correlated to eD compared to age. Post-bronchodilatation FEV₁ was correlated to eD in COPD patients (r²=0.7); for each 1% decrease in the FEV₁, COPD patients also lose approximately 7 m of walking distance in 6MWT.

Conclusions: 6MWT is a reliable measure of COPD progression and could become a useful complimentary test on the clinical progression of the disease

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); 6mwt; spirometry

doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.AB013

Cite this abstract as: Mathioudakis AG, Evangelopoulou EI, Karapiperis GC, Perros EI, Simou G, Kiritsi E, Chatzimavridou-Grigoriadou V, Mathioudakis GA. Complementary role of 6-minutes walking test (6MWT) in the assessment of functional status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). J Thorac Dis 2015;7(S1):AB013. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.AB013

013. Complementary role of 6-minutes walking test (6MWT) in the assessment of functional status of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

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