Correlation between timed-up-and-go test and 6-minute walk test in patients with peripheral artery disease.

Abstract

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a widespread condition affecting over 200 million people worldwide. PAD leads to a restricted blood flow to the extremities, causing painful limitations and the risk of amputation in advanced stages. Among medical and surgical interventions, the therapy of PAD involves walking training. Two commonly used standardized tests to measure walking performance and general mobility are the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and the timed-up-and-go (TUG) test. Since a 6MWT takes more time and effort to complete than a TUG test, assessing the correlation between these two tests is crucial to determine the viability of the TUG test as a practical alternative to the 6MWT. The comparison of 36 TUG tests and 6MWTs revealed a significant inverse correlation across all parameters of both tests, with Pearson's correlation coefficients up to R = -0.69 between the total TUG time and the total 6MWT distance. Future work should explore the potential substitution of the 6MWT with the TUG test and assess the impact of incorporating routine TUG tests in clinical practice.