Title:Changes in Physiological Variables in Patients with Diffuse Interstitial
Lung Disease in the Six-minute Walk Test
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
Author(s): Jhonatan Betancourt-Peña*, Daniela Domínguez-Muñoz, Paola Salazar-Vargas and Juan Carlos Ávila-Valencia
Affiliation:
- Faculty of Health and Rehabilitation, Institución Universitaria Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, Colombia
Keywords:
Exercise tolerance, exercise, lung diseases, interstitial, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, rehabilitation.
Abstract: Objective: Diffuse Interstitial Lung Disease (DILD) is a pathology with a high mortality
rate in Colombia as well as around the world. Linking patients to pulmonary rehabilitation programs
is essential to improve their quality of life and aerobic capacity; thus, all patients perform
the six-minute walk test (6-MWT). This study aimed to describe the changes in physiological and
aerobic capacity-related variables in patients with DILD in the 6-MWT at admission to a pulmonary
rehabilitation program and determine possible differences between patients with Idiopathic
Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and other DILDs.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study on patients with DILD who performed the 6-
MWT between January 2017 and February 2019. Sociodemographic, clinical, physiological, and
exercise tolerance variables were taken into account at four different times of the 6-MWT: Rest
time, the end, and the first and the fifth minute after the end of the test. The Human Ethics Committee
endorsed the study, and all participants signed the informed consent form.
Results: There were 64 patients with DILD. The average age was 60.84 years, 53.1% were female,
73.4% required home oxygen, and 53.1% had a diagnosis of IPF. There were no statistically significant
differences in the Heart Rate (HR), Respiratory Rate (RR), peripheral oxygen saturation
(SpO2), Borg scale, and fatigue in lower limbs at the four evaluated moments of the test for both
groups of patients with DILD (p=0.000); moreover, the FEV1/FVC ratio for patients with other
DILD was higher (p=0.000). The distance traveled for IPF was 339.26 ± 124.84, while for other
DILDs, it was 365.63 ± 113.00 (p=0.382).
Conclusion: Patients with other DILDs have better FEV1/FVC and travel longer distances with
less dyspnea and fatigue than patients with IPF during the 6-MWT. Both groups' HR, RR, SpO2,
Borg, and fatigue variables presented significant changes during the 6-MWT.
