Standardization of 6 Minute Walk Test

Pulmonary Hypertension Clinical Trial

Official title:

Assessment of Exercise Capacity and Standardization of Six Minute Walk Test in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01399983
• Other study ID #: 23-069 ex 10/11
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: July 12, 2011
• Last updated: March 8, 2012
• Start date: July 2011
• Est. completion date: October 2011

Study information

• Verified date: March 2012
• Source: Medical University of Graz
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Austria: Federal Office for Safety in Health Care
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The 6 minute walk (6MW) gives information about the exercise capacity and it is an important tool for clinical decisions and for the prognostic evaluation of PH patients. The test is technically simple to perform, inexpensive and reproducible. During the 6MW O2 saturation, heart rate, walking distance (in this study after every minute) and the level of dyspnea (BORG-dyspnea scale) may be recorded; however, at present, mainly the walking distance is evaluated. The test is sometimes criticized, because of the dependence on the patient's motivation.

The purpose of the present study is to standardize the test by the incorporation of objective factors. The investigators are correlating the change of heart rate and dyspnea (BORG scale) with the achieved walking distance during subsequent examinations performed with different effort.

Description:

On two different days the patients have to absolve four 6MW on different levels of effort - on both days a traditional test will be performed and additionally a test with more effort or with less effort. The order of the tests will be randomized. These two days of the examinations should be within a maximum of three months, provided that there is no sign of relevant clinical changes. After every minute the walking distance is determined. Heart rate and the O2 saturation are measured by pulsoxymetry during the whole test. Every two minutes the patients are asked about their dyspnea (Borg scale).

The purpose of the present study is to standardize the test by the incorporation of objective factors and to detect the correlation between the walking distance and the level of effort during exercise. The investigators expect that the reliability and objectivity of 6MW may increase by the standardization.

The additionally performed cardiopulmonary exercise testing helps to evaluate and stratify patients.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 29
• Est. completion date: October 2011
• Est. primary completion date: October 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years to 90 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension or exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension by right heart catheterisation

• informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Myocardiac Infarct within the last 12 months

• Uncontrolled ventricular arrhythmia

• Uncontrolled bradycardic or tachycardic supraventricular arrhythmia

• relevant operations within the last 12 weeks

• change of the hemodynamic therapy within the last 6 weeks

• joint diseases or diseases of peripheral vessels and nerves which may make the results of the six minute walk test unreliable

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Hypertension
• Hypertension, Pulmonary
• Pulmonary Hypertension

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Austria	Medical University of Graz	Graz

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Medical University of Graz

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Austria, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	change of six minute walk distance between baseline measurement and measurement with more effort or less effort	distance at six minute walk performed by different efforts	the six minute walk test with a different effort is performed 1 hour after the baseline test. The second baseline test and the missing test with a different effort takes place within three months.	No