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. 2017 Mar;9(3):789-795.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2017.03.22.

Performance in the shuttle walk test is associated with cardiopulmonary complications after lung resections

Joseph Fennelly  1 , Lauren Potter  1 , Cecilia Pompili  2 , Alessandro Brunelli  1
Affiliations

Performance in the shuttle walk test is associated with cardiopulmonary complications after lung resections

Joseph Fennelly et al. J Thorac Dis. 2017 Mar.

Abstract

Background: The current functional guidelines recommend the shuttle walk test (SWT) as an initial screening tool to identify candidates for lung resection without requiring cardiopulmonary exercise testing. This study aims to: (I) assess the use of the SWT in predicting postoperative cardiopulmonary complications; and (II) determine whether the recommended 400 m cut-off is an appropriate distance.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed 101 patients that had performed a SWT prior to surgery. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to test associations between patient variables [demographics, pre-existing conditions, pulmonary function, oxygen desaturation during the SWT, shuttle walk distance (SWD)] and post-operative cardiopulmonary complications.

Results: Patients without cardiopulmonary complications walked longer distance compared to those with complication (417.3 vs. 348.6 m, P=0.01. Fifty two patients walked less than 400 m and 16 less than 250 m. Only 10% of patients who walked at least 400 m had cardiopulmonary complications compared to 33% of those who did not reach this distance (P=0.008). Half of the patients who walked less than 400 m and desaturated during the exercise developed cardiopulmonary complications. A SWD shorter than 400 m remained the only factor significantly associated with cardiopulmonary complications (P=0.009, OR: 4.3) after logistic regression analysis.

Conclusions: Our results support the use of the SWT as an initial screening tool in all patients prior to lung resection. Patients walking longer than 400 m experienced very low incidence of complications and would not need further testing prior to proceed to lung resection.

Keywords: Shuttle walk test (SWT); complications; exercise test; lung cancer; lung surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Lowess smoothing plot of the incidence of cardiopulmonary complications with the patients ordered by distance walked during shuttle walk test (SWT).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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