Influência da obesidade no desempenho do Teste do Degrau de 6 minutos em crianças

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is related to the reduction of functional capacity, which can be evaluated through physical exertion tests. 6-minute Step Test (6MST) is an important evaluation tool, since it is inexpensive, easy to apply and generates enough metabolic and ventilatory demands for the evaluation of the exercise capacity, being equivalent to the effort made in some of activities of daily life. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with children between 7 and 10 years of age, of both sexes, 20 obese and 18 eutrophic, students from the public school. The subjects were submitted to clinical, anthropometric and physical activity level measurements, using the PAQ-C questionnaire, and 6MST. Results: We evaluated 38 children, mean age 8,2±1,0 years. There were no differences in age (p=0.95), height (p=0.06) and level of physical activity (p=0.55) between groups. Obese children presented a reduction in 6MST performance (obese = 148.9±24.1, eutrophic=163.8±18.1 steps, p = 0.04), but with higher values for basal and final heart rate in the systolic blood pressure(SBP) and baseline and final diastolic blood pressure(DBP) (p<0.01). Linear regression analysis identified negative percentile impact on 6MST performance (Steps=172,1-0,23xpercentil, R2=0,13). The 6MST also suggested maximum effort in 25% of obese individuals, compared to 5% in eutrophic group. Conclusions: Results of our study suggest that obesity negatively interferes with the physical capacity of children, and that test should be performed with caution in obese children, due to the maximum characteristic found in some volunteers.