*3.1. Patient characteristics*

Of the 716 patients recruited, 35.3% (*n* = 253) covered more distance in the 6MWT than predicted, and 64.7% (*n* = 463) did not. On the basis of these distances, the patients were allocated to Groups H and L, respectively. The two groups had similar age, BMI and waist circumference. However, Group H patients had greater body weight and higher scores in all SF-36 domains than those in Group L. A greater proportion of males than females reached a higher 6MWT score than expected (Table 1).


**Table 1.** Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with obesity walking as far as or farther than predicted during the six-minute walking test (Group H), and of patients with obesity walking less than predicted during the six-minute walking test (Group L). Data are presented as mean ± SD or number (%), as appropriate.
