One-Minute Sit-to-Stand Test Versus Six-Minute-Walk Test in Post-COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional Observational...

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Pulmonology
• Cardiology

Background:

• Growing interest in simplified field tests for post-COVID-19 functional capacity assessment.
• Limited direct comparisons exist between the 1-minute sit-to-stand test (1MSTST) and the 6-minute walk test (6MWT).
• Need to evaluate the 1MSTST's utility in telerehabilitation and resource-limited settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine associations between 1MSTST and 6MWT in post-COVID-19 patients.
• To evaluate functional performance, cardiopulmonary responses, oxygen desaturation, perceived exertion, and muscle strength.
• To explore the 1MSTST as a complementary assessment tool.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional observational study of 54 adults recovering from moderate to severe COVID-19.
• Participants completed both 1MSTST and 6MWT on the same day.
• Measurements included functional performance, peak heart rate, nadir SpO2, perceived exertion, and handgrip strength; correlation and partial correlation analyses were used.

Main Results:

• Moderate correlation between 1MSTST repetitions and 6MWT distance (ρ = 0.47), attenuated by muscle strength and demographics.
• Strong correlations observed for peak heart rate (r = 0.75) and nadir SpO2 (ρ = 0.83) between tests.
• Similar frequencies of exercise-induced oxygen desaturation and comparable increases in perceived exertion were noted for both tests.

Conclusions:

• The 1MSTST shows moderate functional performance concordance and strong cardiopulmonary response agreement with the 6MWT in post-COVID-19 patients.
• The tests assess overlapping yet distinct aspects of functional capacity.
• The 1MSTST is supported as a pragmatic complementary assessment for telerehabilitation and resource-limited settings.