Physical and functional follow-up of tuberculosis patients in initial intensive phase of treatment in Cameroon using the 6-min walk test

This study aimed to evaluate functional capacities of Cameroonian tuberculosis (TB) patients in initial intensive phase of treatment using the 6-min walk test (6MWT) and to compare them to an age-matched healthy group. Twenty-eight TB patients newly diagnosed and 19 healthy age-matched peoples participated in the study. Performance parameters were determined using the 6MWT. Anthropometric and cardiorespiratory parameters were measured at baseline and after 6MWT. Two months later, TB patients were submitted to the same evaluation. We found significant differences in anthropometric parameters between the two groups. The baseline cardiorespiratory parameters and performance characteristics of TB patients were lower than control group (571.7±121.0 m vs 841.6±53.0 m, P<0.0001 for 6-min walk distance (6MWD) and 18.1±2.8 mL/kg/min vs 24.3±1.2 mL/kg/min, P<0.001 for mean VO(2 peak) (peak oxygen consumption). Two months after, significant improvements were noted in anthropometric, cardiorespiratory and performance parameters except for bone mass and FEV(1)/FEV(6) (forced expiratory volumes in 1 second/6 seconds) ratio. Significant correlations were found between the 2-min walked distance (P<0.0001, r=0.95), 4-min walked distance (P<0.0001, r=0.97) and 6MWD. In conclusion, TB patients have impaired physical functional capacity but they improved after 2 months of treatment. 6MWT can be a useful tool in the assessment of physical parameters and cardiorespiratory functional capacity rehabilitation of TB patients during the treatment.