Journal of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and prevention
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J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev · Jan 2020
Physiological Responses to the 6-min Step Test in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
To describe physiological responses during the 6-min step test (6MST) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to investigate whether COPD severity and test interruptions could determine different physiological responses, and to test the reproducibility of 6MST performance. ⋯ The 6MST showed a stabilization of the most physiological variables. In addition, interruptions were usually made by patients with a greater impairment of lung function and they presented greater increased ventilatory demand during the 6MST. However, these interruptions do not interfere with 6MST physiological responses. Moreover, the 6MST is a reliable test to evaluate the functional capacity of patients with COPD.