Abstract
Study design:
Descriptive study.
Objective:
To examine the individual heart rate–oxygen uptake (HR–VO2) relationship during exercise in persons with tetraplegia (TP).
Setting:
Rehabilitation Centre Heliomare, Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands.
Methods:
The HR–VO2 relationship was determined in untrained subjects with motor complete TP (C5 or C6, n=10 and C7 or C8, n=10) during a discontinuous graded exercise hand cycle test. The mean HR and VO2 of the final 60 s of 2-min exercise blocks were used for calculation of the individual correlation coefficient and the standard error of the estimate (SEE).
Results:
Two subjects of the C5–C6 group were not able to complete the test. Individual Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) ranged from 0.68 to 0.97 and SEE from 2.6 to 22.4% VO2-Reserve (VO2R). The mean Pearson's r and SEE were 0.81±0.12 and 10.6±5.6% VO2R in the C5–C6 group and 0.91±0.07 and 7.0±3.2% VO2R in the C7–C8 group, respectively. Two subjects of the C5–C6 group and six subjects of the C7–C8 group attained a linear HR–VO2 relationship with an acceptable SEE (⩽6.0%) and r (>0.90).
Conclusions:
The HR–VO2 relationship appeared linear in only eight out of 18 subjects. An individual analysis of the HR–VO2 relationship is necessary to determine whether HR can be used to quantify exercise intensity. The use of HR to prescribe training intensity should be reconsidered in persons with TP.
Sponsorship:
This study is supported from a grant by ZON-MW.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by ZON-MW (Grant number: 014-32-012), The Netherlands Organisation for Health, Research and Development, The Hague.
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Valent, L., Dallmeijer, A., Houdijk, H. et al. The individual relationship between heart rate and oxygen uptake in people with a tetraplegia during exercise. Spinal Cord 45, 104–111 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101946
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