Correlation between Six Minutes-Walk Distance with and without using Face Mask among Healthy Individuals- an Observational Study

Background: The current pandemic was caused by the respiratory syndrome ‘coronavirus’ and the quality of life was affected leading millions of individuals to diminish their physical activity and to get back on the track, to use with the special test testing the cardio pulmonary function, which is the 6- Minute Walk Test(6MWT). Objective: This study aimed to identify the correlation between the distance walked in 6MWT with masks and without masks to find a change in pulmonary function of healthy individuals. Methods: In this observational study, all baseline measurements were taken prior to 6MWT with and without the mask. A total of 104 participants were selected who were willing to participate in this study. The distance was measured and has been analyzed using the SPSS 25 statistical software. The following variables height, weight, BMI, waist-hip ratio, BP, heart rate recovery, body fat percentage and VO2 max were measured. Results: There were no clinically significant differences seen in data with or without a mask. however, the gender-based study has shown a significant difference without a mask. and the difference occurs with other anthropometric measurements also like weight,age height etc. Conclusion: This study concluded that there was a mild correlation between the body fat percentage and the actual 6-minute walk distance which has shown statistically significant.