Crush the PEAT 5 Exam 2026 – Elevate Your Physical Therapy Skills!

Exertional gas exchange impairment is the defining issue here. In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the lungs become stiff and thickened, which reduces ventilation efficiency and markedly impairs diffusion of oxygen from the alveoli into the blood. During the 6-minute walk, the patient’s oxygen saturation falls from 98% to 92% despite a relatively modest heart rate response, signaling that as work increases, the lungs cannot adequately oxygenate the blood. This pattern points to ventilatory pump dysfunction affecting gas exchange, rather than primary problems with airway clearance, cardiovascular pumping, or deconditioning alone. Therefore the impairment category that fits best is ventilation, respiration, aerobic capacity, and gas exchange associated with ventilatory pump dysfunction.