Savi, Daniela; Di Paolo, Marcello;
Simmonds, Nicholas; Onorati, Paolo; Internullo, Mattia; Quattrucci,
Serena; Winston, Banya; Laveneziana, Pierantonio; Palange, Paolo.

BMC
Pulmonary Medicine, December 2015, Vol. 15 Issue: Number 1 p1-9, 9p;
Abstract: The best clinical practice to investigate aerobic fitness
includes measurements obtained during cardiopulmonary exercise testing
(CPET), however it remains an underutilised clinical measure in cystic
fibrosis (CF). To investigate this further, different methods of
quantifying exercise capacity in CF are required. The possibility that
measuring physical activity (PA) by a portable accelerometer could be
used to assess the CF aerobic state and could be added among the CPET
surrogates has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to
examine the relationship between PA and exercise fitness both at
submaximal and maximal levels in clinically stable adults with CF.
Thirty CF patients (FEV171 ± 19% predicted) and fifteen
healthy controls undertook an incremental CPET on a cycle ergometer.
CPET-related measurements included: oxygen uptake (V’O2), carbon
dioxide production (V’CO2), ventilatory profile, heart rate (HR) and
oxygen pulse (V’O2/HR) throughout exercise and at lactic threshold (LT)
and peak. LT measures represent submaximal exercise related data. PA
was assessed using the accelerometer SenseWear Pro3 Armband.
Moderate (>4.8 metabolic equivalents (METS)) and moderate +
vigorous (>7.2 METS) PA was related to V’O2(p = 0.005 and p = 0.009,
respectively) and work rate (p = 0.004 and p = 0.002, respectively) at
LT. Moderate PA or greater was positively related to peak V’O2(p =
0.005 and p = 0.003, respectively). Daily PA levels were similar in CF
and healthy controls. Except for peak values, V’O2profile and the
V’O2at LT were comparable between CF and healthy controls.
In adult CF patients daily PA positively correlated with aerobic
capacity. PA measurements are a valuable tool in the assessment of
exercise performance in an adult CF population and could be used for
interventional exercise trials to optimize exercise performance and
health status. PA levels and parameters obtained at submaximal exercise
are similar in CF and in healthy controls.;