Walking tests during the exercise training: specific use for the cardiac rehabilitation.

Walk tests, principally the six-minute walk test (6mWT), constitute a safe, useful submaximal tool for exercise tolerance testing in cardiac rehabilitation (CR). The 6mWT result reflects functional status, walking autonomy and efficacy of CR on walking endurance, which is more pronounced in patients with low functional capacity (heart failure - cardiac surgery). The 6mWT result is a strong predictor of mortality.

Determining the minimal clinically important difference for the six-minute walk test and the 200-meter fast-walk test during cardiac rehabilitation program in coronary artery disease patients after acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: To estimate the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and the 200-m fast-walk test (FWT) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) during a cardiac rehabilitation program.

Design: Prospective study using distribution- and anchor-based methods.

Setting: Outpatients from a cardiac rehabilitation unit.

A long-term retrospective follow-up study of patients treated with prophylactic lithium carbonate.

Patients suffering from unipolar and bipolar affective illness, who began treatment with prophylactic lithium carbonate during a 5-year period, were followed up and 59 out of 101 interviewed. Most had been taking lithium for at least 13 years: 49% had a complete remission, 41% a partial but significant response, and 10% no response. No specific individual or illness factor was found to correlate with favourable outcome, and no correlation between average serum lithium level and outcome.