Six-minute walking test in obese female: Reproducibility, relative intensity and relationship with quality of life

Objective. - To assess in females obese, reproducibility, relative intensity of six-minutes walking test (6MWT) and its relations with quality of life and maximal oxygen uptake ((V)over dot(O2) pic). Methods. - Sixteen obese females (36.4 +/- 3.4 kg/m(2)), aged 56 6 years, underwent a symptom-limited cardiopulmonary treadmill exercise test and five 6MWT on no consecutive three days and filled out quality of life's questionnaire. Results. - The heart rate and distance ambulated during the first 6MWT are significantly lower than the others values obtained during the four others 6MWT (p<0.005). Moreover, the afternoon heart rate of 6MWT are significantly higher than the morning heart rate of 6MWT. Reproducibility of distance and heart rate are satisfactory (intraclass correlation coefficient are superior to 0.9, variation coefficient and standard error are low). Relative intensity of 6MWT corresponds to 79.1 +/- 8.2% of maximal heart rate. (V)over dot(O2) pic correlated highly (r=0.7, p<0.005) with distance walked during 6MWT, whereas there are no significant correlation between quality of life score and distance walked during 6MWT. Conclusion. - In obese female, the 6MWT needs one familiarization test before reproducible, it is submaximal and could like that assesses physical capacity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserves.