• Gabriel C Brooks, Eric Vittinghoff, Sivaraman Iyer, Damini Tandon, Peter Kuhar, Kristine A Madsen, Gregory M Marcus, Mark J Pletcher, and Jeffrey E Olgin.
• From the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology (G.C.B., S.I., D.T., G.M.M., J.E.O.), and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (E.V., M.J.P.), University of California San Francisco; Azumio Inc, San Francisco, CA (P.K.); and School of Public Health, Division of Community Heath and Human Development, University of California Berkeley, (K.A.M.).
• Circ Heart Fail. 2015 Sep 1; 8 (5): 905-13.

BackgroundThe 6-minute walk test (6MWT) independently predicts congestive heart failure severity, death, and heart failure hospitalizations, but must be administered in clinic by qualified staff on a premeasured course. As part of the Health eHeart Study, we sought to develop and validate a self-administered 6MWT mobile application (SA-6MWTapp) for independent use at home by patients.Methods And ResultsWe performed a validation study of an SA-6MWTapp in 103 participants. In phase 1 (n=52), we developed a distance-estimation algorithm for the SA-6MWTapp by comparing step counts from an Actigraph and measured distance on a premeasured 6MWT course with step counts and estimated distance obtained simultaneously from our SA-6MWTapp (best estimation algorithm, r=0.89 [95% confidence interval 0.78-0.99]). In phase 2, 32 participants (including those with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension) used the SA-6MWTapp independently in clinic, and the distance estimated by the SA-6MWTapp was compared with the measured distance (r=0.83 [95% confidence interval 0.79-0.92]). In phase 3, 19 patients with congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension consecutively enrolled from clinic performed 3.2±1 SA-6MWTapp tests per week at home over 2 weeks. Distances estimated from the SA-6MWTapp during home 6MWTs were highly repeatable (coefficient of variation =4.6%) and correlated with in-clinic-measured distance (r=0.88 [95% confidence interval 0.87-0.89]). Usability surveys performed during the second (in-clinic) and third (at-home) phases demonstrated that the SA-6MWTapp was simple and easy to use independently.ConclusionsAn SA-6MWTapp is easy to use and yields accurate repeatable measurements in the clinic and at home.© 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

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