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were: shoulder pain (10%), knee pain (9%), and clau-
dication (6%). Other characteristics of the sample are
shown in Table I.
Exploratory factor analysis of DASI
The correlation matrix of the DASI items was
suitable for factor analysis (Bartlett’s test of sphe-
ricity = 257.884; df = 66; p < 0.001; KMO = 0.804),
which resulted in the same factorial structure as was
found in the original study (4); specifically, with the
factors “mild activities” and “moderate to strenuous
activities”. These 2 factors explained 44% of the com-
mon variance.
Exercise capacity, muscle function and functional
capacity
All of the patients walked approximately 222 m (SD
114.7 m) on the 6MWT. The median was 227 m (Ta-
ble II). In total, 20 patients stopped before 6 min for
Table I. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the
sample (n = 96)
Characteristics
Age, years, mean (SD) 72 (10)
Male sex, n (%) 70 (73)
Education, n (%)
Primary school 36 (37)
High school 36 (37)
University or college 23 (24)
Other
1 (1)
Marital status, n (%)
Married/relationship 56 (58)
Single/divorced/widowed 37 (39)
Other
Yes
Aetiology of heart failure, n (%)
20 (21)
Ischaemia 19 (20)
Hypertension 55 (57)
Cardiomyopathy 61 (63)
Valvular heart disease 27 (28)
ECG rhythm, n (%)
Sinus 64 (67)
Atrial fibrillation 19 (20)
Pacemaker 12 (12)
Unknown
Ejection fraction, mean (SD)
1 (1)
44 (10)
NYHA class, n (%)
I 4 (4)
II 48 (50)
III 41 (43)
IV
3 (3)
Time from diagnosis, months, mean (SD) 52 (80)
Movement impairment (at least 1 limb impaired), n (%) 27 (28)
Right leg impairment 13 (13)
Left leg impairment 16 (17)
Right arm impairment
3 (3)
Smoking, n (%)
Left arm impairment
9 (9)
11 (11)
ECG: electrocardiogram; NYHA: New York Heart Association classification;
SD: standard deviation.
www.medicaljournals.se/jrm
Table II. Mean and median scores for exercise capacity, muscular
function and functional capacity
Variables (n = 96) Mean (SD) Median (cut-offs)
6MWT, m
Muscle function test
Right heel-lift, n 222.36 (114.26) 227
Left heel-lift, n
Shoulder abduction, s
Right shoulder flexion, n
Left shoulder flexion, n
DASI (score range 0–58.2)
13.79 (8.34) 12
13.47 (7.63) 11
63.61 (44.05) 55
14.29 (8.31) 12
14.13 (7.66)
24.83 (13.60) 11
25
6MWT: 6-min walk test; DASI: Duke Activity Status Index; SD: standard
deviation.
various reasons, fatigue being the main cause (55%).
Overall, 26 patients walked 300 m or more (27%), and
70 walked less than 300 m (73%). Of the patients who
walked less than the median of 227 m, significantly
more were female (p = 0.002), older (76 vs 67 years;
df = 1; F = 23.788; p < 0.001) and in a higher NYHA
class (2.75 vs 2.15; df = 1; F = 28.416; p = 0.001).
Because of physical impairment unrelated to HF,
which affected movement of the arms or legs, all of
the patients did not perform the complete MFT. Speci-
fically, 28% of patients had impairment of movement,
which affected their capacity to perform the MFT. The
patients with HF who scored less than the median in
each MFT evaluation were also significantly more
often female, older and in a higher NYHA class. In
particular, male patients reached significantly better
performances in right heel-lift (p = 0.002), shoulder
abduction (p = 0.003), right shoulder flexion (p = 0.004)
and left shoulder flexion (p = 0.035). Older patients
did not reach the cut-off fixed in right heel-lift (74 vs
69 years; df = 1; F = 6.007; p = 0.016), left heel-lift (74
vs 69 years; df = 1; F = 6.007; p = 0.016), and shoulder
abduction (74 vs 69 years; df = 1; F = 4.763; p = 0.032).
Finally, the cut-off fixed for MFT evaluation were not
reached by patients with a higher NYHA class: right
heel-lift (3 vs 2; df = 1; F = 29.611; p < 0.001), left
heel-lift (3 vs 2; df = 1; F = 16.655; p < 0.001), shoulder
abduction (3 vs 2; df = 1; F = 6.422; p = 0.013), right
shoulder flexion (3 vs 2; df = 1; F = 7.483; p = 0.007),
and left shoulder flexion (3 vs 2; df = 1; F = 8.969;
p = 0.004).
The mean DASI score was 24.83 (SD 13.60) (Ta-
ble II), and the median was 25. The patients with HF
who scored less than the median were more often
female (p = 0.005), older (75 vs 68; df = 1; F = 15.248;
p < 0.001) and in a higher NYHA class (2.68 vs 2.20,
df = 1; F = 16.072; p < 0.001).
In total, 29% of the patients scored below the median
scores on all the tests; 27% scored above the median on
all of the tests. The remaining 44% included patients
who had higher then median scores in a maximum of
2 tests. The results with the most underlying discre-