Effect of six minute walk test on pulse rate and oxygen saturation and blood pressure in exercising and non-exercising in young adults

The present study was done to compare the pulse rate and oxygen saturation before and after six minute walk test between the exercising & non exercising young adult. This is a cross- sectional study conducted on total of 140 medical students of age group 17-25years of Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. The standard informed consent is to be taken from all the subjects following approval from the college ethics committee. The 6-min walk test was conducted according to a standardized protocol. Blood Pressure of all the subjects is also recorded by auscultatory method before & within 5minutes after the six minute walk test. oxygen saturation, and pulse rate were assessed at the start and end of the 6-min walk test using Pulse Oximetry. Data was analyzed using student unpaired't' test. P= 0.05 was considered as significant. In the present study the pulse rate of non-exercising students was higher compared to exercising group but there was no statistical significance Systolic Pressure,Diastolic Pressure and Oxygen Saturation in non-exercising also did not show any significant difference compared with exercising group respectively. Thus it is concluded from the study that Oxygen desaturation during the six minute walk is not related to walk distance, nor does it determine the degree of perceived exertion.