ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION A wide variety of investigations test some aspect of lung function. Watching a patient walk or climb stairs is a test of cardiopulmonary function and quite a good one. A patient who can run up a flight of stairs is unlikely to have much functional impairment of either the heart or lungs. Simple exercise studies have been formalized in tests, such as the 6-minute walk and shuttle tests, which enable the degree of functional impairment to be measured. The 6-minute walk is most suitable for patients whose exercise tolerance is very limited. The distance the patient can walk in 6 minutes provides a measure of the ability to exercise.
