The six minute walk (6MW) is a test of functional exercise performance
which simply involves measuring the distance a patient can walk on a
level course in the specified period of time, This tool is increasingl
y being applied to many disease categories to assess functional status
and to assess outcome following intervention, Advantages of this tool
include its minimal technical requirements, ease of execution by even
severely debilitated patients, good reproducibility, and correlation
with maximal exercise testing and functional status questionnaires. Di
sadvantages include the lack of detailed physiologic data obtained rel
ative to maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing and the lack of stan
dardization in methodology, Methodological differences which frequentl
y prevent reliable comparison between centers include: the number of p
ractice walks, the intensity of encouragement, the characteristics of
the walking track, and the provision of supplemental oxygen to patient
s.