Clinical reliability of the 6 minute corridor walk test performed within a week of a myocardial infarction.

The 6 minute walk test (6 MWT) has been shown to provide a clinically useful index of functional capacity in chronic heart failure. We hypothesized that similar results would be found in patients who had a recent (ie, within a week) myocardial infarction (MI). Twenty-five patients (23 males, aged 43 to 72 years) who had undertaken an exercise stress test without complications underwent 3 consecutive 6 MWTs (1 hour apart).