Normative values in healthy adults for the 6-minute and 2-minute walk tests in Belgium and Vietnam: implications for clinical practice

Objective: To establish reference values for the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and 2-minute walk test (2MWT) distances, to investigate the correlation between these 2 tests, and to establish prediction equations for these distances in healthy populations of Belgium and Vietnam. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects and methods: The 6MWT and 2MWT were administered to a convenience sample of 239 Belgian and 303 Vietnamese participants between the ages of 18 and 80 years. Results: The mean (standard deviation; SD) 2MWT distances were 215 (32.8) m for Belgian participants and 156 (25.5) m for Vietnamese participants. The mean (SD) 6MWT distances were 625 (90.7) m for Belgian participants and 449 (70.4) m for Vietnamese participants. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the 2 tests was 0.901 (p