RT Journal
A1 Nash DT
T1 Time for a 6-minute walk?: Comment on “six-minute walk test as a prognostic tool in stable coronary heart disease”
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 2012
FD July 23
VO 172
IS 14
SP 1102
OP 1103
DO 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2530
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.2530
AB 
In this issue of the Archives, Beatty and colleagues1 demonstrate that the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) provided, at low cost, very useful prognostic information in ambulatory patients with coronary heart disease. In 556 patients with stable coronary heart disease followed up for 8 years, cardiovascular events (eg, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and death) occurred in 218 (39.2%). Patients in the lowest quartile of 6MWT distance (87-419 m) had 4 times the rate of cardiovascular events as those in the highest quartile (544-837 m) (P < .001). Each SD decrease in 6MWT distance (104 m) was associated with a 55% higher rate of cardiovascular events.