Muhammad Zubair Ashraf, Waqas Aslam, Fariha Salman, Syed Mazhar Ali Naqvi, Muhammad Saqib Saeed.
Six minute walk distance and forced expiratory volume in first second on spirometry in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;27(3):121-5.

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a prevalent respiratory disease characterized by persistent progressive airflow limitation. Diagnosis Requires Forced expiratory Volume in first second (FEV1) measurement by spirometry which is not available easily and where available in underused. Objective: Current study is an effort to determine correlation between FEV1 and 6MW distance, so that if correlation exist, initial screening may be done on the basis of this easy test. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted in Institute of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases, Mayo Hospital Lahore. Purposive sampling technique was used to enroll 100 patients fulfilling selection criteria after taking informed consent. Demographics details were obtained, spirometry performed for assessment of FEV1 followed by six minute walk test. All the data was recorded on the Proforma.Pearson Correlation coefficient was calculated between 6 minute walk distance and FEV1for whole sample and stratified groups taking p-value<=0.05 as significant. Results: Male to female ratio was 3:1 where mean age of the patients was 54.87+-8.65 years and the mean BMI value of the patients was 25.49+-3.36 kg/m2. Positive correlation was found between FEV1 and TDW at 6 minutes` walk with r=0.731, p=0.00. Conclusion: There is strong positive correlation between six minute walk distance and FEV1 on spirometry in COPD patients. Changes in pulmonary functions may be monitored by 6MWT.

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