@article {Annegarnp2145, author = {J. Annegarn and M.A. Spruit and H.H.C.M. Savelberg and C. van de Bool and A.M.W.J. Schols and E.F.M. Wouters and K. Meijer}, title = {Variability in walking patterns during the 6MWT in COPD patients and healthy controls}, volume = {38}, number = {Suppl 55}, elocation-id = {p2145}, year = {2011}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Measures of walking variability have shown to reflect physical fatigue and stability, which is particularly of interest in COPD patients prone to muscle atrophy and osteoporosis, and may contribute to 6 MWD. Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize walking patterns during the 6MWT in COPD patients and healthy subjects.79 COPD patients (60\% men; age: 64{\textpm}9yrs; height: 1.67{\textpm}0.09 m; FEV1: 53{\textpm}19\% pred) and 24 healthy controls (62\% men; age: 64{\textpm}6yrs; length: 1.73{\textpm}0.08 m; FEV1: 125{\textpm}21\% pred) performed 2 6MWTs with a tri-axial accelerometer attached to the trunk. The following parameters were derived: 1) Stride frequency (SF), 2) walking intensity (IMA), 3) interstride variability (VC) and 4) variability in medio-lateral (AC-ML) and vertical (AV-V) direction using an autocorrelation procedure (lower=higher variability). These parameters and subject characteristics were tested for their association with the 6MWD via regression models. Differences between COPD and healthy were found for 6MWD, SF, IMA and AC-ML (table 1).View this table:Table 1. Walking parametersThe model explained 84\% (healthy) and 87\% (COPD) of the variance in 6MWD. IMA and height were the only predictors of the 6MWD for healthy subjects but for COPD patients also age, SF, VC, AC-ML and AC-V contributed significantly (10\%) to the variance in 6MWDCOPD patients use different walking strategies during the 6MWT than healthy control subjects that could be due to adaptations of both pulmonary and systemic impairments.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p2145}, eprint = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }