Outcomes in Cardiac Rehabilitation: The use of the Six-Minute Walk Test, the Timed Up and Go Test, and the Effects of the Frequency of Program Delivery.

Abstract

Symptom-limited exercise stress tests are recommended for all patients prior to engagement in cardiac rehabilitation (CR). However, exercise testing prior to CR has not been common practice in Australia or Britain where the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is commonly used as a measure of functional capacity, to estimate training requirements, and for outcome measurement. However, there are no established guidelines for the use of the 6MWT in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and the reliability, validity and responsiveness of the 6MWT in CR are not well determined. While 6MWT guidelines for the pulmonary population demonstrate an increase in the 6MWT distance (6MWD) with repeated 6MWT measurement it is unknown if repeated 6MWTs are required in CR. Furthermore, barriers to patient participation in CR are many and the ability of CR programs to adhere to established guidelines, within available budgets, is reported to be low. It is therefore expedient to examine alternative outcome measurements and to review aspects of CR delivery in order to deliver similar results while utilising fewer resources.