The Role of the Six-Minute Walk Test in the Overall Assessment of Exercise Tolerance in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the functional adaptive capacity of the cardiovascular system in patients with chronic heart failure based on the severity of dyspnea, assessed using the Borg scale, and the dynamics of hemodynamic parameters during a 6-minute walk test. The study included 40 patients (mean age 66.2 ± 4.9 years) of heart failure varying severity. A comparative analysis between the groups showed that patients with relatively low functional classes (FC II) had a moderate risk of complications and lower Borg scale scores, indicating a relatively favorable clinical course of the disease. Conversely, patients with high FC (III-IV), on the contrary, had a high risk of adverse outcomes and higher Borg scale scores. Our results show that the 6-minute walk distance correlates with the level of dyspnea, the degree of decline in exercise tolerance, and quality of life, making the test useful for monitoring dynamics and for clinical decision-making.