The 6-Minute Walk Test Does Not Reliably Detect Changes in Functional Capacity of Patients Awaiting Cardiac Transplantation

The 6WT is commonly used to assess functional capacity in patients with heart failure. This study demonstrates that, despite a strong cross-sectional correlation with V̇o2peak, changes in the 6WT are not a reliable predictor of changes in V̇o2peak within patients. Therefore, the 6WT has limited utility as a serial measure to assess changes in the clinical status of patients with severe heart failure.