Six-Minute Walk Test: A Useful Tool for Evaluating Functional Capacity in Chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Chronic liver disease leads to reduction in health-related quality of life, particularly functional capacity. The data about the use of Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) among cirrhotic patients are limited. The current study was done to evaluate the use of 6MWT in patients with HCV related chronic liver disease for assessing the functional capacity and to determine the correlation between the 6MWD and severity of chronic liver diseases.

METHODS: This analytic cross-sectional study was carried out on 20 healthy volunteers (Group I), 40 HCV patients with early liver disease (Group II), and 40 HCV patients with liver cirrhosis (Group III). Six minute walk distance (6MWD) was calculated.

RESULTS: The mean 6MWD was significantly lower in Groups II and III (325.8 ± 56.65 meter, and 131.79 ± 43.40 meter) compared to that of Group I (359.91 ± 38.63 meter) (p < 0.01; p < 0.001). The mean 6MWD was significantly lower in Group III compared to that of Group II (p < 0.001). 6MWD was positively correlated with hemoglobin, platelets, and albumin (p < 0.01). On the other hand, 6MWD was negatively correlated with bilirubin, AST, ALP, creatinine, and INR (p < 0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between 6MWD and BMI in Groups II and III (p < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between 6MWD and Child score or MELD score in Group III (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Six-minute walk test is a reliable indicator to measure the functional capacity for patients with HCV related chronic liver diseases.