ABSTRACT
Background: Walk tests, especially the 6-min walk-test [6MWT], are commonly used in order to evaluate submaximal exercise capacity. The primary outcome of the 6MWT is the 6-min walk-distance [6MWD]. Numerous demographic, physiological and anthropometric factors can influence the 6MWD in healthy adults
Objective: The purpose of the present review is to highlight and discuss the 6MWD influencing factors in healthy of the healthy adult Arab populations
Methods: It is a review including a literature search, from 1970 to September 31th 2015 using the PubMed, the Science Direct databases and the World Wide Web on Google search engine. Reference lists of retrieved English/French articles were searched for any additional references
Results: Six studies, conducted in Tunisia [n=2], Saudi Arabia [n=3] and Algeria [n=1] were included. All studies were conducted according to the 2002-American-thoracic-society guidelines for the 6MWT. In addition to anthropometric data [sex, age, height, weight, body mass index, lean mass], the following data were recognized as 6MWD influencing factors: schooling and socioeconomic levels, urban origin, parity, physical activity score or status, metabolic equivalent task for moderate activity, spirometric data, end-walk heart-rate, resting diastolic blood pressure, dyspnoea Borg value and niqab-wearing
Conclusion: The 6MWD influencing factors in adult Arab populations are numerous and include some specific predictors such as parity, physical activity level and niqab-wearing