The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is an assessment that a doctor may use to determine a person’s exercise tolerance. It is a low risk test that measures how far a person can walk in 6 minutes. It may be useful for measuring the functional ability and fitness of people with certain health conditions.
The 6MWT is an easy, simple, safe, and reliable test that scores a person on the distance they can cover in 6 minutes of walking.
A person’s score indicates their exercise capacity, and a doctor can use it to determine whether a person’s exercise capacity is improving. Due to this, the test can be useful for evaluating the effectiveness of treatments and may help a doctor decide on the best time to plan surgery or other forms of treatment.
In this article, we discuss the 6MWT in more detail, including what it involves, the scoring system, and what the scores mean.