• Birön Onur Üğüt, Aybüke Cansu Kalkan, Turhan Kahraman, Berril Dönmez Çolakoğlu, Raif Çakmur, and Arzu Genç.
• Graduate School of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. onur.ugut@gmail.com.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Feb 1; 192 (1): 359367359-367.

BackgroundMost of the previous studies, investigating determinants of 6-minute walk test (6MWT), were conducted on small sample sizes and/or have not explored different aspects such as freezing of gait, physical activity, gender, dual-task cost, and/or have not been able to explain large portion of variation in 6MWT in people with Parkinson's disease.AimsThis study aimed to investigate the determinants of 6MWT, including aspects that previous studies have not explored.MethodsIn this descriptive cross-sectional study, 6MWT determinants were investigated upon 42 people with Parkinson's disease. After recording participants' demographic data, walking capacity, disease stage, severity of motor symptoms, freezing of gait, balance, physical activity, fear of falling, functional balance, and dual-task cost values were evaluated and grouped into modifiable and unmodifiable variables to investigate possible therapeutic benefits aiming improvement in walking capacity.ResultsThe mean distance for 6MWT was 401.7 ± 92.7 m. Significant differences between women and men were found for height, walking capacity and speed, fear of falling, and functional balance (p<0.05). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that gender, age, and time since diagnosis significantly explained 52.4% of the variance in 6MWT and disease stage, freezing of gait, dual-task cost, and functional balance added an extra 35.6% to the explained variance.ConclusionsThese results showed that gender, age, disease stage, freezing of gait, dual-task cost, and functional balance values are significant contributors to the variance in 6MWT. Therefore, while planning rehabilitation strategies to improve walking capacity, one should focus on these aspects in people with Parkinson's disease.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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