[Reproducibility of the walking test in patients with cystic fibrosis].
OBJECTIVE
The walking test is a useful and objective method for evaluating the tolerance for exercise in patients with chronic bronchopulmonary diseases. Our objective was to check the reproducibility of this test and evaluate whether there are differences between tests of varying duration (2 and 6 minutes) in a group of patients with cystic fibrosis.


METHODS
We utilized the walking test on 29 patients who were in a stable phase and under care in the Cystic Fibrosis Unit of our hospital. Two tests were carried out, one of 2 minutes and the other of 6 minutes duration, both of which were repeated after a 15-minute interval.


RESULTS
The reproducibility of the walking test in this type of patient was very good and we found an excellent correlation between the two-minute test and the six-minute test. We did not observe a training effect when the test was repeated.


CONCLUSIONS
The two minute walking test has a high reproducibility and we propose this test, because it is shorter and more comfortable for pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis, in order to evaluate the evolution, progressive deterioration of the of the patient and the response to different types of treatments.
Jorquera Guillén
M A
MA
Unidad de Fibrosis Quística, Hospital Infantil Niño Jesús, Madrid.
Salcedo Posadas
A
A
Villa Asensi
J R
JR
Girón Moreno
R M
RM
Neira Rodríguez
M A
MA
Sequeiros González
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*