Pharmacological trials including patients with more severe heart failure were more likely to show a significant improvement with therapy than trials of milder heart failure .
Using mean values in these trials , the age of patients appeared a more important determinant of 6MWT distance than New York Heart Association classification .
The 6MWT has not yet been proven to be a robust test for the identification of effective pharmacological interventions although it appears useful for the assessment of cardiac resynchronization therapy .
The results of the 6MWT were concordant with changes in symptoms , suggesting that it may be used as supportive evidence for symptom benefit .
AIMS The 6 min walk test ( 6MWT ) is commonly used in clinical trials to assess treatments for heart failure , but its ability to distinguish between effective and ineffective treatments is question able .
The aim of this study is to investigate , using a systematic literature review , the utility of the 6MWT as a measure of the effectiveness of treatment in r and omized controlled trials of heart failure .
Prediction of mortality and morbidity with a 6-minute walk test in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. SOLVD Investigators.
OBJECTIVE To study the potential usefulness of the 6-minute walk test , a self-paced submaximal exercise test , as a prognostic indicator in patients with left ventricular dysfunction . DESIGN Data were collected during a prospect i ve cohort study , the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction ( SOLVD ) Registry Sub study . SETTING Twenty tertiary care hospitals in the United States , Canada , and Belgium . PARTICIPANTS A stratified r and om sample of 898 patients from the SOLVD Registry who had either radiological evidence of congestive heart failure and /or an ejection fraction of 0.45 or less were enrolled in the sub study and underwent a detailed clinical evaluation including a 6-minute walk test . Patients were followed up for a mean of 242 days . OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality and hospitalization . RESULTS During follow-up , 52 walk-test participants ( 6.2 % ) died and 252 ( 30.3 % ) were hospitalized . Hospitalization for congestive heart failure occurred in 78 participants ( 9.4 % ) , and the combined endpoint of death or hospitalization for congestive heart failure occurred in 114 walk-test participants ( 13.7 % ) . Compared with the highest performance level , patients in the lowest performance level had a significantly greater chance of dying ( 10.23 % vs 2.99 % ; P = .01 ) , of being hospitalized ( 40.91 % vs 19.90 % ; P = .002 ) , and of being hospitalized for heart failure ( 22.16 % vs 1.99 % ; P < .0001 ) . In a logistic regression model , ejection fraction and distance walked were equally strong and independent predictors of mortality and heart failure hospitalization rates during follow-up . CONCLUSION The 6-minute walk test is a safe and simple clinical tool that strongly and independently predicts morbidity and mortality in patients with left ventricular dysfunction
Pharmacological trials including patients with more severe heart failure were more likely to show a significant improvement with therapy than trials of milder heart failure .
Using mean values in these trials , the age of patients appeared a more important determinant of 6MWT distance than New York Heart Association classification .
The 6MWT has not yet been proven to be a robust test for the identification of effective pharmacological interventions although it appears useful for the assessment of cardiac resynchronization therapy .
The results of the 6MWT were concordant with changes in symptoms , suggesting that it may be used as supportive evidence for symptom benefit .
AIMS The 6 min walk test ( 6MWT ) is commonly used in clinical trials to assess treatments for heart failure , but its ability to distinguish between effective and ineffective treatments is question able .
The aim of this study is to investigate , using a systematic literature review , the utility of the 6MWT as a measure of the effectiveness of treatment in r and omized controlled trials of heart failure .