Six-minute walk test for healthy Egyptian school children

Objectives: Six-minute walk test is a reliable and valid functional test for assessing exercise tolerance and endurance. Lack of reference values of this test for normal, healthy children hinders its clinical usefulness in pediatrics. The purposes of this study were to provide reference standards values for the six-minute walk test and to compare these values between Egyptian girls and boys schoolchildren. Method: 900 Egyptian healthy schoolchildren of both sexes, aged from 6 to 11 years, participated in the study. They were recruited from different local primary schools located in three governorates in the Lower Egypt. They were equally classified into five age groups. Age was recorded where height and the six-minute walk distance were measured. Results: The overall mean of the six-minute walk distance was 589.79±4.68 meters. It was increased with age increment reaching to maximum value of 626.53 and 659.08 meters for girls and boys respectively at 10 years old. The results revealed significant differences between girls and boys only after reaching 9 years old. Conclusion: This study provided reference values of the six-minute walk test for healthy Egyptian schoolchildren aged from 6-11 years which is affected by age and gender.