An original field evaluation test for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease population: the six-minute stepper test.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate a new field test, the six-minute stepper test (6-MST), by studying its reproducibility, sensitivity and validity.


METHODS
After a familiarization test, 16 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 15 healthy subjects performed two six-minute stepper tests per day over three evaluation days. Ten of the 16 patients with COPD also performed a six-minute walking test (6-MWT) with an analysis of gas exchange to compare the metabolic requirements of the two tests. Dyspnoea Borg values were evaluated with Borg's CR-10 scale.


RESULTS
The mean (SD) scores for the COPD group for the first and second six-minute stepper tests were 382.49 (106.01) and 412.45 (118.39) strokes/6 minutes, respectively. Crossed comparison between the first or the second six-minute stepper tests of each evaluation day revealed no significant difference, indicating the reproducibility of the test. The sensitivity was demonstrated by a significantly higher performance in the healthy group (P < 0.001), demonstrating the ability of the test to detect two groups with different fitness levels. Finally, mean dyspnoea Borg values (SD) were significantly lower (P < 0.05) during the six-minute stepper test than during 6-MWT (2.5 (1.5) versus 3.1 (1.2)).


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that the six-minute stepper test is a reproducible, sensitive, secure, well-tolerated and feasible test for patients with COPD. The reproducibility and sensitivity of the six-minute stepper test suggests that this test could be used in the evaluation of exercise tolerance in patients with COPD.
Borel
Benoit
B
Université Lille Nord de France and UDSL (EA3608), Faculté des Sciences du Sport et de l'Education Physique, Ronchin, France.
Fabre
Claudine
C
Saison
Sylvain
S
Bart
Frédéric
F
Grosbois
Jean-Marie
JM
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013147:Spirometry; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*