Cardiorespiratory fitness in individuals post-stroke: reference values and determinants.

Blokland IJ; Groot FP; Bennekom PDCAM; de Koning DJJ; van Dieen PDJH; Houdijk PDH;

Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation [Arch Phys Med Rehabil] 2023 May 10.
Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 10.

Objective: To provide reference values of cardiorespiratory fitness for individuals post-stroke in clinical rehabilitation and to gain insight in characteristics related to cardiorespiratory fitness post stroke.
Design: A retrospective cohort study. Reference equations of cardiopulmonary fitness corrected for age and sex for the 5 th ,25 th , 50 th , 75 th and 95 th percentile were constructed with quantile regression analysis. The relation between patient characteristics and cardiorespiratory fitness was determined by linear regression analyses adjusted for sex and age. Multivariate regression models of cardiorespiratory fitness were constructed.
Setting: Clinical rehabilitation centre PARTICIPANTS: 405 individuals post-stroke who performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test as part of clinical rehabilitation between July 2015 and May 2021.
Main Outcome Measures: Cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of peak oxygen uptake (V˙O 2 peak) and oxygen uptake at ventilatory threshold (V˙O 2 -VT).
Results: References equations for cardiorespiratory fitness stratified by sex and age were provided based on 405 individuals post-stroke. Median V˙O 2 peak was 17.8[range 8.4-39.6] ml/kg/min and median V˙O 2 -VT was 9.7[range 5.9-26.6] ml/kg/min. Cardiorespiratory fitness was lower in individuals who were older, female, using beta-blocker medication and in individuals with higher BMI and lower motor ability.
Conclusions: Population specific reference values of cardiorespiratory fitness for individuals post-stroke corrected for age and sex were presented. These can give individuals post-stroke and health-care providers insight in their cardiorespiratory fitness compared to their peers. Furthermore, they can be used to determine the potential necessity for cardiorespiratory fitness training as part of the rehabilitation program for an individual post-stroke to enhance their fitness, functioning and health. Especially, individuals post-stroke with more mobility limitations and beta-blocker use are at a higher risk of low cardiorespiratory fitness.