Movement energetics of individuals with a history of poliomyelitis.
Principles for evaluating the functional capacity of, and, therefore, exercise testing, chronically-disabled populations such as individuals with a history of poliomyelitis are considerably less well established than those for able-bodied persons. Therefore, we examined the use of indexes of movement economy and cardiorespiratory conditioning based on the results of a submaximal exercise test and oxygen consumption studies in individuals with a history of poliomyelitis. Subjects (n = 48) were categorized into four distinct groups, ie, having normal movement economy and either normal (n = 12) or reduced cardiorespiratory conditioning (n = 11), or having reduced movement economy and either normal (n = 10) or reduced cardiorespiratory conditioning (n = 15). There was no relationship between the indexes of movement economy and cardiorespiratory conditioning (p > 0.05) supporting that these indexes reflected physiologically-distinct entities. Irrespective of movement economy, deconditioned subjects had a reduced forced vital capacity (% predicted) (p < 0.05) and a higher resting heart rate (HR) (p < 0.01) compared to conditioned subjects. The difference in resting HR was attributed to conditioning level rather than initial arousal because resting HR and VO2 were comparable on repeated tests (p > 0.05). Although there was no difference in steady-state HR (% predicted maximum) among the four groups (p > 0.05), VO2 (% pred max) was significantly lower for the deconditioned than the conditioned subjects (p < 0.01). We concluded that determining movement economy and cardiorespiratory conditioning with a submaximal exercise test may enhance assessment and treatment outcome evaluation, hence provide a rational basis for rehabilitation interventions in individuals with a history of poliomyelitis.
Dean
E
E
School of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Ross
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D011051:Poliomyelitis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests