Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2023

Exercise capacity prior to major cancer surgery: A cross-sectional observational study of the validity of the six-minute walk and 30-second sit-to-stand tests (#197)

Grace Butson 1 , Lara Edbrooke 1 2 , Hilmy Ismail 1 , Linda Denehy 1 2
  1. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold standard for measuring exercise capacity, however, it is resource intensive and has limited availability. This study aimed to determine: 1) the association between the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and the 30-second sit-to-stand test (30STS) with CPET peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and anaerobic threshold (AT) and 2) determine 6MWT and 30STS cut points associated with higher risk of postoperative complications.

 

Methods: A cross-sectional study, retrospectively analysing data collected from a tertiary cancer centre over a 23-month period. Measures included CPET VO2peak and AT, 6MWT and 30STS test. Correlations were used to characterise relationships between variables. ROC analyses determined 6MWT and 30STS cut points that aligned with CPET variable cut points.

 

Results: 156 participants were included. The 6MWT and 30STS displayed moderate correlations with VO2peak, rho=0.65, p=0.01 and rho=0.52, p<0.005 respectively.  Fair correlations were observed between AT and 6MWT (rho=0.36, p=0.01) and 30STS (rho=0.41, p<0.005). The optimal cut points to identify VO2peak <15ml/kg/min were 493.5m on the 6MWT and 12.5 stands on the 30STS test and for AT <11ml/kg/min were 506.5m on the 6MWT and 12.5 stands on the 30STS test.

 

Conclusion: Both the 6MWT and 30STS test could be used as alternative tools for measuring exercise capacity preoperatively in the cancer setting where CPET is not available. A range of 6MWT and 30STS cut points, according to sensitivity and specificity levels, may be used to evaluate risk of postoperative outcomes.

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