TY - JOUR T1 - Influence of hospitalizations because of COPD exacerbation in the six-minute walk test (6MWT) JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA410 VL - 46 IS - suppl 59 SP - PA410 AU - Amaia Aramburu AU - Amaia Garcia AU - Cristobal Esteban AU - Ane Anton AU - Francisco Javier Moraza AU - Myriam Aburto AU - Alberto Capelastegui Y1 - 2015/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA410.abstract N2 - Material and Methods: January 2003-2004, 543 patients with COPD (FEV1<80% and FEV1/FVC <70%) were selected. They had to be controlled by pneumologist for > 6 months and without exacerbations for at least the last six weeks. We evaluated different variables, including the number of exacerbations in the 2 years prior. They were monitored for 5 years without any intervention.A loss of 25m between the two evaluations was considered as a significant change.Results: Out of the 543 patients, 96% were male, of an average age of 68 years, BMI 28.3, 2.4±1.4 in Charlson index and FEV1 of 55.0±13.1%. 48.6% of the patients reported dyspnea grade 2 (MRC).The average distance covered (6MWT) was 408.9 ± 92.43m. 167 patients died during follow-up. At the inclusion, there were statistically significant differences (p<0.0001) in the distance achieved, 425±87 for those who had not suffered any hospitalization and 92.4±363 in those who did.After 5 years 324 patients completed the follow-up, 48.5 % of whom had lost at least 25m in the 6MWT. In the univariate analysis, there were statistically significant differences between the 2 groups in age, FEV1% and hospitalizations. There were no differences between groups for dyspnea, Charlson, BMI, general health and smoking. View this table:Multivariate analysisConclusion: There is an association between the number of exacerbations and the decrease of meters in 6MWT in our group after 5 years of follow-up. ER -