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Reference Values in the 6-Minute Walk Test in Chilean Children Aged 3-10 Years and Relationship With Cardiometabolic
Pedro A Latorre Román1, Cristian Martínez Salazar2, Juan A Párraga Montilla1
1Departamento Didáctica de la Expresión Musical, Plástica y Corporal, Universidad de Jaén, Spain.
Insights
This study establishes reference values for the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) in healthy Chilean children. Performance on the 6MWT is primarily influenced by age but also by cardiometabolic risk factors.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Exercise Physiology
- Cardiometabolic Health
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Establishing normative data for pediatric functional assessments is crucial for identifying deviations from typical development.
- Cardiometabolic risk factors are increasingly prevalent in children, potentially impacting physical performance.
- The 6-minute walking test (6MWT) is a widely used measure of functional exercise capacity in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine sex- and age-specific reference values for the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) in healthy Chilean children aged 3-10 years.
- To evaluate the relationship between 6MWT performance and cardiometabolic risk variables in this population.
- To develop a predictive equation for 6MWT performance in prepubertal children.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 1165 healthy Chilean children aged 3-10 years.
- The 6-minute walking test (6MWT) was administered to assess exercise performance.
- Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, skinfolds) and resting cardiovascular parameters (heart rate, blood pressure) were collected.
Main Results:
- The 6-minute walk distance significantly increased with age from 3 to 10 years.
- 6MWT performance was positively associated with age, systolic blood pressure, and height.
- Negative correlations were observed between 6MWT distance and sum of 4 skinfolds, resting heart rate, diastolic blood pressure, and waist circumference.
- Prevalence of overweight and obesity was high in both preschool and school-aged children.
Conclusions:
- Reference equations and percentile curves were developed for predicting 6MWT performance in Chilean children.
- Age is the primary determinant of 6MWT distance, but cardiometabolic factors provide additional predictive information.
- These reference values can aid in the clinical assessment of exercise capacity and cardiometabolic health in children.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of healthy Chilean children aged 3-10 years in the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) and cardiometabolic risk variables and to determine sex- and age-specific reference values.
Methods:
This study involved 1165 healthy children (age = 6.36 [1.70] y old). The 6MWT was used to evaluate exercise performance. Furthermore, anthropometric measures were collected, like weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, and skin folds. Resting heart rate and blood pressure (BP) were also evaluated.
Results:
The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35.0% and 25.4% in preschoolers and 29.0% and 36.2% in school-age children, respectively, showing significant differences (P < .05) between age groups. The distance walked (6-min walk distance) increased significantly year on year at ages from 3 to 10 years. According to the regression analysis, 6MWT performance was positively related to age, systolic BP, and height, whereas it was negatively related to ∑4 skinfold fat, resting heart rate, diastolic BP, and waist circumference.
Conclusions:
This study provides a reference equation and an age- and sex-adjusted percentile curve to assess the predicted 6MWT performance in a cohort of prepubertal Chilean children. The 6-minute walk distance depends mainly on age; however, other variables, such as resting heart rate, BP, skinfold fat, and waist circumference, add significant information and should be taken into account.
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