Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the six-minute walk test (6-MWT) can detect changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) induced by exercise training in healthy elderly men. Design: Randomized and prospective controlled trial. Methods: Thirty-two healthy untrained men, between 65 and 75 years of age, were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control (C, n=12), endurance training (E, n=10), or concurrent training (ER, n=10). Training groups underwent 24weeks of exercise, 3 times a week. All participants were subjected to cardiopulmonary exercise testing and the 6-MWT, before and after the training period. Results: At follow-up, the E and ER groups had significantly higher peak oxygen uptake (15.0±9.1 and 12.6±10.4%, respectively) and 6-MWT distances (5.5±5.3 and 4.6±2.8%, respectively) compared to the C group. In pre-intervention (n=32), the 6-MWT distance correlated positively with (r=0.51, p=0.001) and at anaerobic threshold (r=0.39, p=0.010). On the other hand, there was no significant correlation between the changes (after–before) in the 6-MWT distance and peak (E and ER groups: r=0.38, p=0.097). Conclusions: The 6-MWT is not appropriate to evaluate changes in CRF in healthy elderly men who performed endurance and concurrent training for 24weeks. Verf.-Referat