Ventilatory analysis during 6MWT gives relevant information about exercise limitation in COPD

A new poster was presented during the 2015 ERS Conference and then published in the European Respiratory Journal, highlighting the importance of ventilatory analysis during the Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) in COPD patients.

The aim of the study was to investigate the respiratory responses during 6MWT in untrained COPD patients. Exercise performance of COPD is limited by ventilation (VE), in particular the inability of further increasing VE. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is the most established field exercise test. The VE analysis during 6MWT can be an useful tool to better understand the causes of exercise limitation in COPD.

37 male and 12 female (age 48-85 years) performed spirometry and 6MWT equipped with COSMED Spiropalm 6MWT, an instrument which allow VE measurement breath by breath and a continuous monitoring of heart rate and SpO2. Breathing reserve (BR) was calculated by the Spiropalm as the difference between maximal voluntary ventilation (FEV1x40) and max VE reached during the test.

The study findings show that "Breathing reserve is a mark of exercise limitation, therefore the analysis of VE during 6MWT can be a simple tool contributing to explain exercise limitation in COPD even in the absence of more sophisticated tests."

The poster details are the following:

- Title: "Ventilatory analysis during 6MWT gives relevant information about exercise limitation in COPD"
- Authors: Eva Bernardi, Benedetta Stiz, Sergio Angelini, Marco Contoli, Annalisa Cogo - University of Ferrara, Biomedical Sport Studies Center, Ferrara, FE Italy
- Published in: ERJ October 2015, Vol 46 Issue suppl 59

The abstract can be read at the following link: click here