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. 2014 Jun;26(4):583-599.
doi: 10.1177/0898264314525665. Epub 2014 Apr 2.

Association Between 6-Minute Walk Test and All-Cause Mortality, Coronary Heart Disease-Specific Mortality, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease

Ali Yazdanyar  1 , Michael M Aziz  2 , Paul L Enright  3 , Daniel Edmundowicz  4 , Robert Boudreau  5 , Kim Sutton-Tyrell  5 , Lewis Kuller  5 , Anne B Newman  5
Affiliations

Association Between 6-Minute Walk Test and All-Cause Mortality, Coronary Heart Disease-Specific Mortality, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease

Ali Yazdanyar et al. J Aging Health. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between 6-min walk test (6 MWT) performance and all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease mortality, and incident coronary heart disease in older adults.

Method: We conducted a time-to-event analysis of 1,665 Cardiovascular Health Study participants without prevalent cardiovascular disease with a 6 MWT.

Results: During a mean follow-up of 8 years, there were 305 incident coronary heart disease events, and 504 deaths of which 100 were coronary heart disease-related deaths. The 6 MWT performance in the shortest two distance quintiles was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (290-338 m: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.2, 2.5]; <290 m: HR = 2.1; 95% CI = [1.4, 3.0]). The adjusted risk of coronary heart disease mortality incident events among those with a 6 MWT < 290 m was not significant.

Discussion: Performance on the 6 MWT is independently associated with all-cause mortality and is of prognostic utility in community-dwelling older adults.

Keywords: exercise; geriatrics; mortality; physical function.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier Survival Plots of All-Cause Mortality by 6 MWT Distance Quintile
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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