Heart rate responses during the modified six-minute walk test among Special Olympics athletes

Abstract

Objective: The construct validity of the modified six-minute walk test (m6MWT) was examined by addressing the following questions: 1) do participants attain a steady state plateau in heart rate (HR) within the range of 110-150 beats per minute? 2) at what percentage of their predicted HR maximum were participants during each minute of the test? Material and Methods: Participants were 36 (male=56%) Special Olympics athletes aged 34.4 years (SD = 12.7). Following familiarization, participants completed the m6MWT while wearing a Polar Team 2 heart rate monitor. Results: By the end of the first minute, average heart rate was 120bpm, and a factorial repeated measures ANOVA revealed that steady state was achieved by minute three. Conclusion: The construct validity of the m6MWT was supported as two assumptions were met: that steady state HR was achieved and the work load was intense enough that steady state HR fell within the range of 110-150bpm.