Background
Six-min walk test (6-MWT) is a simple reliable test with a significant role in demonstrating type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) effect on the functional capacity of children with T1DM.
Objectives
Our study aimed to estimate the incapacity of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients by establishing their profile during the 6-MWT and to determine their 6-min walk distance.
Patients and methods
The study included 30 cases (six males and 24 females), who were suffering from T1DM (aged from 5 to 18 years, known to be diabetic for more than 1 year, and free from other diseases apart from T1DM) admitted to the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit at Asyut University Pediatric Hospital and 20 children (six males and 14 females) age-matched and sex-matched as a control group. All cases included in the study were subjected to anthropometric measurements, systematic examination, glycated hemoglobin, and random blood glucose before and after the test, and according to the American Thoracic Society guidelines, the 6-MWT was performed.
Results
Our study reported that the 6-min walk distance of T1DM patients was shorter than that of the controls regarding the same age and sex, T1DM lowers the physical capacity of the diabetic children and affects their daily-life activities, and a significant negative correlation was found between the duration of the DM and the walked-distance score (=−0.392, = 0.032) (the longer the duration of T1DM, the lower the walked distance), while there was no significant correlation of the walked distance with the glycated hemoglobin nor the BMI.