Oxygen desaturation and adverse events during 6-min walk testing in patients with COPD

Background and objective The 6‐min walk test (6MWT) is a simple test assessing functional capacity, but concerns about risks of substantial oxygen desaturation in pulmonary patients have led to non‐adherence to the standardised American Thoracic Society guideline. We evaluated the safety of the 6MWT in stable COPD patients and compared the incidence of adverse events in patients with and without substantial exertional hypoxaemia. Methods 6MWT data were obtained for 1136 patients with moderate to very severe COPD. Demographics, adverse events, oxygen saturation (SpO2), 6‐min walk distance, lung function and quality of life measures were compared between patients with substantial exertional hypoxaemia (nadir SpO2