Six minute walk test in type III spinal muscular atrophy: A 12Â month longitudinal study

The aim of our longitudinal multicentric study was to establish the changes on the 6 min walk test (6MWT) in ambulant SMA type III children and adults over a 12 month period. Thirty-eight ambulant type III patients performed the 6MWT at baseline and 12 months after baseline. The distance covered in 6 min ranged between 75 and 510 m (mean 294.91, SD 127) at baseline and between 50 and 611 m (mean 293.41 m, SD 141) at 12 months. The mean change in distance between baseline and 12 months was −1.46 (SD 50.1; range: −183 to 131.8 m). The changes were not correlated with age or baseline values (p > .05) even though younger patients reaching puberty, had a relatively higher risk of showing deterioration of more than 30 m compared to older patients. Our findings provide the first longitudinal data using the 6MWT in ambulant SMA patients.