Analysis of factors associated with 6MWD among older patients with chronic heart failure

OBJECTIVES: To study the factors that influence the 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) among older patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. A total of 123 patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University was selected. The factors associated with the 6MWD were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: The 6MWD of older patients was negatively correlated with age, fall risk, nutritional score, frailty, and depression but was positively correlated with educational level, fall efficacy, self-care ability, and plasma albumin. The results of independent variable multiple linear regression analysis showed that age (β = −0.098), fall risk (β = −0.262), fall efficacy (β = 0.011), self-care ability (β = −0.021), nutrition (β = −0.405), frailty (β = −0.653), and plasma albumin (β = 0.127) influenced the 6MWD. CONCLUSIONS: The 6MWD of older patients with chronic heart failure was related to age, self-care ability, fall risk, nutrition, frailty, and depression.