Allometric scaling of 6-min walking distance by body mass as a standardized measure of exercise capacity in healthy adults

Body mass (BM) is a confounding variable in human performance. We hypothesized that adjusting 6-min walk distance (6MWD) for BM differences using allometric scaling would allow meaningful individual and group comparisons. We aimed to use allometric scaling of 6MWD to BM to provide an index for comparing walking performance in middle-aged and older adults. One hundred and twenty subjects (40–87 years) participated. Anthropometry, spirometry, and two walk tests were evaluated. We adjusted 6MWD to BM, gender, and age using an allometric procedure. The allometric exponents were prospectively applied in a validation sample of 44 healthy subjects. Body mass presented significant negative correlation ( p