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Heart 1998;80:377-382; doi:10.1136/hrt.80.4.377
Copyright © 1998 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Cardiovascular Society

Heart 1998;80:377-382 ( October )

Reproducibility and responsiveness of quality of life assessment and six minute walk test in elderly heart failure patients

S T O'Keeffe, M Lye, C Donnellan, D N Carmichael

Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Correspondence to: Dr S T O'Keeffe, Department of Geriatric Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Accepted for publication 16 February 1998

Objective---To examine the reproducibility and responsiveness to change of a six minute walk test and a quality of life measure in elderly patients with heart failure.
Design---Longitudinal within patient study.
Subjects---60 patients with heart failure (mean age 82 years) attending a geriatric outpatient clinic, 45 of whom underwent a repeat assessment three to eight weeks later.
Main outcome measures---Subjects underwent a standardised six minute walk test and completed the chronic heart failure questionnaire (CHQ), a heart failure specific quality of life questionnaire. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated using a random effects one way analysis of variance as a measure of reproducibility. Guyatt's responsiveness coefficient and effect sizes were calculated as measures of responsiveness to change.
Results---24 patients reported no major change in cardiac status, while seven had deteriorated and 14 had improved between the two clinic visits. Reproducibility was satisfactory (ICC > 0.75) for the six minute walk test, for the total CHQ score, and for the dyspnoea, fatigue, and emotion domains of the CHQ. Effect sizes for all measures were large (> 0.8), and responsiveness coefficients were very satisfactory (> 0.7). Effect sizes for detecting deterioration were greater than those for detecting improvement.
Conclusions---Quality of life assessment and a six minute walk test are reproducible and responsive measures of cardiac status in frail, very elderly patients with heart failure.

Keywords: six minute walk;  elderly people;  heart failure;  quality of life


© 1998 by Heart

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