Six-minute walk test in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients living in Northwest Africa

Abstract

Imed Latiri,1 Rihab Elbey,1 Kamel Hcini,1 Afif Zaoui,2 Bessam Charfeddine,3 Mohamed Ridha Maarouf,4 Zouhair Tabka,1,5 Abdelkrim Zbidi,1,5 Helmi Ben Saad1,51Laboratory of Physiology, University of Sousse, 2Department of Physical Medicine. Sahloul Hospital, 3Laboratory of Biochemistry, Basic Health Group, 4Basic Health Group, 5Department of Physiology and Functional Exploration, Farhat Hached Hospital, Sousse, TunisiaIntroduction: International recommendations of the exploration of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) are focused on deficiency and not incapacity.Aims: (1) To estimate the incapacity of NIDDM patients through the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) data. (2) To determine their 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) influencing factors (3) To compare data of NIDDM patient group (PG; n = 100) with those of two control groups (CG): CG1 (n = 174, healthy nonobese and nonsmoker); CG2 (n = 55, obese nondiabetic free from comorbidities).Population and methods: The anthropometric, socioeconomic, clinical, metabolic, and 6MWT data of 100 NIDDM patients (45 females) were collected.Results: Total sample means ± standard deviation of age, weight, and height were 54 ± 8 years, 81 ± 14 kg, and 1.64 ± 0.09 m. (1) Measured 6MWD (566 ± 81 m) was significantly lower than the theoretical 6MWD (90% ± 12%). The profile of the PG carrying the 6MWT, was as follows: 23% had an abnormal 6MWD; at the end of the 6MWT, 21% and 12% had, respectively, a low heart rate and a high dyspnea (>5/10), and 4% had desaturation during the walk. The estimated "cardiorespiratory and muscular chain" age (68 ± 16 years) was significantly higher than the chronological age. (2) The factors that significantly influenced the 6MWD (r2 = 0.58) are included in the following equation: 6MWD (m) = –73.94 × gender (0, male; 1, female) – 3.25 × age (years) + 7.33 × leisure activity score – 35.57 × obesity (0, no; 1, yes) + 32.86 × socioeconomic level (0, low; 1, high) – 27.67 × cigarette use (0, no; 1, yes) + 8.89 × resting oxyhemoglobin saturation – 105.48. (3) Compared to the CGs, the PG had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower 6MWD (100%+9% and 100%+8%, respectively, for the CG1 and CG2).Conclusion: NIDDM seems to accelerate the decline of the submaximal aerobic capacity evaluated through the 6MWD.Keywords: 6-minute walk test, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, physical activity, functional incapacity