Determination of 6 Minute Pegboard and Ring Test Exercise Test Reference Values in for the Turkish Healthy Adults

Supported or unassisted arm activities are widely used for all activities of daily living. They contribute greatly to performing both simple and complex daily tasks such as brushing, shaving, combing their hair, washing dishes or putting food on shelves; meanwhile, trapezius, pectoralis minor, scalene and intercostal muscles assist arm positioning.

Many studies; It has confirmed that patients with COPD have reduced arm exercise capacity and often experience notable dyspnoea (shortness of breath) and fatigue during arm tasks important to daily living. Two mechanisms have been suggested underlying this: neuromechanical dysfunction of the respiratory muscles (diaphragm and accessory respiratory muscles) (thoracoabdominal asynchrony) and changes in lung volume during activities involving the upper extremities. During arm exercise, accessory respiratory muscles are used for arm function and cannot contribute to respiration. This increases the respiratory load of the mechanically disadvantaged diaphragm and results in thoracoabdominal synchrony and severe dyspnea. Since the muscles that move the arm and stabilize the trunk are attached to the rib cage, they increase the resistance of the chest wall and limit the ability to increase tidal volume during arm activities. These disturbances in ventilatory mechanics result in termination of arm exercise in patients with COPD at lower workloads compared to healthy subjects.

The '6 Minute Pegboard and Ring Test-6PRT' is a valid and reliable, useful, practical and easy-to-apply test that evaluates unassisted arm endurance in COPD patients, asthmatic patients and healthy individuals. For the test, patients are asked to carry as many rings as possible within 6 minutes and the number of rings carried during 6 minutes is recorded as a score.

In a study conducted in patients with mild to very severe COPD, a positive correlation was shown between the 6PRT score and the activity counts evaluated by accelerometer. In addition, it was determined that the 6PRT score showed a clear relationship with the upper extremity ADL, and it was concluded that the 6PRT test could be used as an appropriate test for estimating and demonstrating the improvement of ADL in pulmonary rehabilitation programs.

Studies have recently been published showing reference values for 6PBRT in Brazilian and Indian populations. In one of the results, a correlation was found between the score value and age, showing that younger individuals were able to move more rings than the older group. In addition, a weak correlation was found between the test score and the level of physical activity. Normative values and reference range for 6PBRT are not available for various ethnicities, including the Turkish adults. Therefore, in this study; It is aimed to find reference values for the 6PBRT test in the Turkish adults.