Outcome measures of the 6 minute walk test: relationships with physiologic and computed tomography findings in patients with sarcoidosis.
BACKGROUND
We assessed the relationship between physiologic parameters, computed tomography patterns, 6 minute walk distance (6MWD) and the distance-saturation product [DSP; defined as the product of the 6MWD and the lowest oxygen saturation during the 6 minute walk test (6MWT)]. In addition, we investigated factors affecting 6MWD in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective study of patient demographics, treatment, pulmonary function, 6MWT, echocardiography and computed tomography results.


RESULTS
Fifty nine patients were included in this study. Their mean+standard deviation age was 47.5 years + 12.5 years, and 42 (71.2%) were female. Mean pulmonary function parameters for forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and total lung capacity (TLC) results, as percentages of predicted values, were 77.6 +/- 22.2, 77.1 +/- 22.8 and 78.7 +/- 16.1, respectively. Comparison of the DSP with distance walked revealed a significant correlation with factors underlying reduced 6MWD, including gender, pulmonary function indices, partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2), and Borg dyspnea score. Other factors were significantly associated with DSP but not distance; these included lung fibrosis (p = 0.02), pulmonary hypertension (p = 0.01) and systemic therapy (p = 0.04). Backward elimination stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that gender, and FEV1 were independent predictors of 6MWD, but FEV1 was more strongly related when DSP applied [DSP, R2 = 0.53, p = 0.02; distance, R2 = 0.45, p < 0.0001].


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings reveal that, compared to 6MWD alone, the DSP is correlated with a greater number of factors associated with reduced 6MWT performance. Therefore, the DSP may be a useful indicator of functional status in patients with sarcoidosis. Additional large-scale studies are warranted to validate our findings.
Alhamad
Esam H
EH
Pulmonary Davison, Department of Medicine, King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. esamalhamad@yahoo.com
Shaik
Shaffi Ahmad
SA
Idrees
Majdy M
MM
Alanezi
Mohammed O
MO
Isnani
Arthur C
AC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004452:Echocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016138:Walking; D055815:Young Adult
D010100:Oxygen