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Introduction: International recommendations of the exploration of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) are focused on deficiency and not incapacity. Aims: (1) To estimate the incapacity of NIDDM patients through the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) data. (2) To determine their 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) influencing factors (3) To compare data of NIDDM patient group (PG; n = 100) with those of two control groups (CG): CG1 (n = 174, healthy nonobese and nonsmoker); CG2 (n = 55, obese nondiabetic free from comorbidities). Population and methods: The anthropometric, socioeconomic, clinical, metabolic, and 6MWT data of 100 NIDDM patients (45 females) were collected. Results: Total sample means ± standard deviation of age, weight, and height were 54 ± 8 years, 81 ± 14 kg, and 1.64 ± 0.09 m. (1) Measured 6MWD (566 ± 81 m) was significantly lower than the theoretical 6MWD (90% ± 12%). The profile of the PG carrying the 6MWT, was as follows: 23% had an abnormal 6MWD; at the end of the 6MWT, 21% and 12% had, respectively, a low heart rate and a high dyspnea (.5/;10), and 4% had desaturation during the walk. The estimated "cardiorespiratory and muscular chain" age (68 ± 16 years) was significantly higher than the chronological age. (2) The factors that significantly influenced the 6MWD (r2 = 0.58) are included in the following equation: 6MWD (m) = −73.94 × gender (0, male; 1, female) - 3.25 × age (years) + 7.33 × leisure activity score - 35.57 × obesity (0, no; 1, yes) + 32.86 × socioeconomic level (0, low; 1, high) - 27.67 × cigarette use (0, no; 1, yes) + 8.89 × resting oxyhemoglobin saturation - 105.48. (3) Compared to the CGs, the PG had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower 6MWD (100%+9% and 100%+8%, respectively, for the CG1 and CG2). Conclusion: NIDDM seems to accelerate the decline of the submaximal aerobic capacity evaluated through the 6MWD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]