title: Lung function, maximum and submaximum exercise testing in COPD patients: reproducibility over a long interval.
abstract: This study was designed to investigate the reproducibility and clinical relevance of several lung function and exercise test indices in a sample of patients with stable severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Twenty subjects (ages 67.8 +/- 2.0 years, forced expiratory volume in 1s, [FEV1] 39.7 +/- 2.8% predicted) receiving conventional medical therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation were tested 4 times at 1 month intervals. Testing procedures included lung function (inspiratory vital capacity [IVC], FEV1, plethysmographic functional residual capacity [FRC], specific conductance of the airways (sGaw), single breath transfer factor divided by the alveolar volume [TL/VA]); incremental, progressive, symptom-limited, cycle exercise (maximum work load [Wmax], maximum heart rate [HRmax], maximum ventilation [VEmax], maximum oxygen uptake [VO2max]); and 2 modes of submaximum exercise (12 min walking test [12 MWD] and endurance cycle test). The mean of the absolute value of the individual patient, session-to-session, variation was found to be 0.131 for FEV1, 102 ml/min for VO2max. The within-subject variability was the smallest for HRmax and IVC (mean intrasubject coefficient of variation, [CV intra] 5.0 and 6.5%) and the greatest for TL/VA, the work performed during the endurance cycle test (EW) and sGaw (CV intra 16.5, 19.4, and 22.7%), while it was reasonably low (8.1-10.2%) for all the other variables studied. Calculation of the F ratio of the intersubject variance to the residual (total minus intersubject) variance, interpreted as a signal-to-noise, ratio, yielded the following, in decreasing order: TL/VA, EW, VEmax, VO2max, IVC, FEV1, HRmax, Wmax, sGaw, 12 MWD, FRC. If we assume that a useful variable should combine a low within-subject variability (CV intra less than or equal to 10%) with a high signal-to-noise ratio, we conclude that, among all the variables studied, IVC, FEV1, VEmax, and VO2max are those with the greatest clinical potential for functional assessment in patients with COPD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hôpital Universitaire Brugmann, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noseda
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Carpiaux
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Prigogine
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmerber
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013997:Time Factors