6-minute walking test indicators in healthy children and adolescents

Abstract

Exercise tolerance, as a functional indicator of the health status of children and adolescents, can be determined using a simple, accessible, safe and maximally physiological out-of-laboratory 6-minute walking test (T6MX), which is based on the quantitative result of the distance traveled in 6 minutes at the submaximal load level. This test was introduced in 1963, more than 15 countries presented reference equations and formulas, percentile curves and control values for children and adolescents. In the Russian Federation, normative data developed on a large sample of children were not presented, therefore the use of the test in childhood is limited. The purpose — to create normative parameters of T6MX depending on gender and age for healthy children and adolescents. Materials and methods. A continuous one-time personalized examination was conducted of 3693 children of the I–II health groups aged 7 to 18 (girls — 48.8%, boys — 51.2%) who attended comprehensive and secondary specialized educational institutions of the Chuvash Republic. Anthropometric and physiometric measurements were carried out, all children passed the 6-minute walking test. Results. The median distance traveled by boys of the junior school group was 492.5 [435; 535.8] m, by girls — 504.8 [463; 548.5] m, by boys of the middle school group —570.5 [503.5; 614.3] m, by girls — 551.8 [519.5; 608] m, by boys of the senior school group —500.8 [452.8; 539] m, by girls — 509.5 [464.5; 548.5] m. The results of T6MX in the general population of the examined schoolchildren did not show a significant correlation with anthropometric or physiometric indicators. Conclusions. In the junior and middle school age, the distance traveled by boys was greater compared to girls; with increasing age in the senior school group, test results decrease in adolescents; 17 and 18-year-old girls walk a longer distance in 6 minutes than boys of the same age.