Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 May 11;11(10):1386.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare11101386.

Cardiorespiratory Response to Six-Minute Step Test in Post COVID-19 Patients-A Cross Sectional Study

Amna Omar  1 , Arthur de Sá Ferreira  2 , Fatma A Hegazy  1   3 , Gopala Krishna Alaparthi  1
Affiliations

Cardiorespiratory Response to Six-Minute Step Test in Post COVID-19 Patients-A Cross Sectional Study

Amna Omar et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background and purpose: New coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause persistent symptoms and physical weakness that can lead to a limitation in activities of daily living (ADL). There is a lack of evidence about the performance in the six-minute step test (6MST) of post-COVID-19 patients and healthy subjects. The aim of this study is to investigate the cardiorespiratory response induced by the 6MST in post-COVID-19 patients and compare it with the response of the six-minute walk test (6MWT).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 34 post-COVID-19 patients and 33 healthy subjects. The assessment was performed at one month from a non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both groups were assessed by using the 6MST, 6MWT, and the pulmonary function test (PFT). Post COVID functional status (PCFS) scale was used for the post-COVID-19 group to assess functional status. Physiological responses; heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), oxygen saturation (SpO2), blood pressure (BP), and Borg scale for fatigue and dyspnea were recorded before and after the 6MST and 6MWT.

Results: the performance of the post-COVID-19 group was worse than the healthy group in both tests. In 6MWT, the distance walked by the post-COVID-19 group (423 ± 7) was 94 m less than the healthy group, and the number of climbed steps in the 6MST (121 ± 4) was 34 steps less than the healthy group. Both results were statistically significant (p < 0.001). There was a moderate positive correlation between the 6MST and 6MWT in walked distance versus steps number (r = 0.5, p < 0.001). In addition, there was a moderate correlation between the two tests in the post (HR, RR, SpO2, systolic blood pressure SBP, diastolic blood pressure DBP, dyspnea, and fatigue) with p < 0.001.

Conclusions: Six-minute step tests produced similar cardiorespiratory responses when compared to a 6MWT. The 6MST can be used as an assessment tool for COVID-19 patients to evaluate their functional capacity and ADL.

Keywords: 6 minute step test T; 6 minute walk test; COVID-19; cardiorespiratory responses; functional capacity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A flow chart for recruiting subjects.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between the 6MST and 6MWT in both groups. (a) Distance, Steps; (b) Heart Rate; (c) Respiratory rate; (d) Oxygen saturation; (e) SBP; (f) DBP; (g) Dyspnea; (h) Fatigue.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between the 6MST and 6MWT in both groups. (a) Distance, Steps; (b) Heart Rate; (c) Respiratory rate; (d) Oxygen saturation; (e) SBP; (f) DBP; (g) Dyspnea; (h) Fatigue.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Alandijany T.A., Faizo A.A., Azhar E.I. Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Current status and management practices. J. Infect. Public Health. 2020;13:839–842. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.05.020. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Korompoki E., Gavriatopoulou M., Hicklen R.S., Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I., Kastritis E., Fotiou D., Stamatelopoulos K., Terpos E., Kotanidou A., Hagberg C.A., et al. Epidemiology and Organ Specific Sequelae of Post-Acute COVID19: A Narrative Review. J. Infect. 2021;83:1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2021.05.004. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Adil M.T., Rahman R., Whitelaw D., Jain V., Al-Taan O., Rashid F., Munasinghe A., Jambulingam P. SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic of COVID-19. Postgrad. Med. J. 2021;97:110–116. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138386. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reina J. The SARS-CoV-2, a New Pandemic Zoonosis That Threatens the World. Vacunas. 2020;21:17–22. doi: 10.1016/j.vacun.2020.03.001. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang F., Kream R.M., Stefano G.B. Long-Term Respiratory and Neurological Sequelae of COVID-19. Med. Sci. Monit. 2020;26:e928996. doi: 10.12659/MSM.928996. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources