Key result
Administering the 6-Minute Step Test with musical/rhythmic audio significantly increased the number of steps taken by healthy young adults compared to other conditions (p=0.003).
Why the study?
Whether the 6-Minute Step Test reveals sufficient performance and the effect of motivational factors such as music on it remained unknown.
Does listening to rhythmic music improve performance on the 6-Minute Step Test in healthy young adults?
RCT (n=38)
Crossover
Does listening to rhythmic music improve performance on the 6-Minute Step Test in healthy young adults?
p-value: p=0.003
Administering the 6-Minute Step Test with rhythmic music significantly increases the number of steps performed by healthy young adults without altering cardiovascular symptoms.
Rhythmic audio boosts 6MST performance in healthy young adults; extends auditory cue research but applicability to cardiac patients remains untested.
The 6-Minute Step Test (6-MST) is a simple, inexpensive field test that is increasingly used to evaluate cardiorespiratory fitness. Whether sufficient performance is revealed by this test and the effect on it of motivational factors such as music is unknown. In this cross-sectional, randomized, and crossover research design, we aimed to analyze 6-MST performance and test outcomes in different music-related auditory conditions of non-musical/non-rhythmic [NM/NR], musical/non-rhythmic [M/NR], and musical/rhythmic [M/R]). We had 38 healthy young adults (M age = 21.21, SD = 1.21 years; 60% male) complete all tests, and we measured their number of steps taken, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, peripheral oxygen saturation, perceived dyspnea, and fatigue on the modified Borg scale. We recorded individually calculated submaximal values according to heart rate reached after three tests. The number of steps increased in the M/R condition relative to other conditions ( p = 0.003), and the amount of change in perceived leg fatigue was also higher in the M/R condition ( p < 0.017). Despite variable test performances in different auditory conditions, we found no statistically significant difference in cardiovascular fitness and symptoms ( p > 0.05). We concluded that the 6-MST is a useful tool for assessing maximum cardiac tolerance, especially if administered while listening to rhythmic music.
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Felekoğlu et al. (2023) conducted an RCT in Healthy (n=38). Musical/rhythmic audio vs. Non-musical/non-rhythmic and musical/non-rhythmic audio was evaluated on Number of steps taken (p=0.003). Administering the 6-Minute Step Test with musical/rhythmic audio significantly increased the number of steps taken by healthy young adults compared to other conditions (p=0.003).
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