Increasing Walking Speed to Achieve a Pre-training Endurance Shuttle Walk Time of 5-10 min May Improve Test Responsiveness in People With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

This report compares participant characteristics and test responsiveness with participants grouped according to whether or not faster walking speeds were selected for the ESWT during pre-training testing. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data collected in the intervention group during a randomized controlled trial. The intervention was supervised ground-based walking training, performed two to three times/wk, for 8-10 wk. Prior to and immediately following completion of training, participants completed the 6-min walk test (6MWT), incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), and ESWT. Results: Data were available on 77 participants (70 ± 9 yr, forced expiratory volume in the first second of expiration [FEV1] 43 ± 15 % predicted). For those whom a faster speed was selected during the pre-training ESWTs were characterized by milder dyspnea and leg fatigue on completion of the baseline 6MWT and ISWT (P
Source: Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Tags: Pulmonary Rehabilitation Source Type: research