Continuous Monitoring of Pulse Oximetry During the 6-Minute Walk Test Improves Clinical Outcomes Prediction in COPD.

Background: Continuous monitoring of S throughout the 6-min walk test (6MWT) unveiled that some patients with respiratory diseases may present values across the test lower than S measured at the end of the test. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether this approach improves the yield of walk-induced desaturation detection in predicting mortality and hospitalizations in patients with COPD.

Methods: Four hundred twenty-one subjects (51% males) with mild-very severe COPD underwent a 6MWT with continuous measurement of S .