The incremental shuttle walking test in elderly people with chronic airflow limitation.
BACKGROUND
There is a concern that comorbidity or frailty in older people could limit the usefulness of currently available exercise tests for chronic lung disease. This study evaluated the feasibility and reproducibility of the incremental shuttle walking test (SWT) in people aged 70 years or over, compared exercise tolerance with other disability markers, and assessed whether the SWT is responsive to change after bronchodilators.


METHODS
Fifty elderly patients with chronic airflow limitation (CAL) and 32 controls without airflow limitation attempted the SWT before and after combined nebulised salbutamol/ipratropium bromide. Subjects also completed the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living index (NEADL) and the London Handicap score (LHS).


RESULTS
Forty four subjects with CAL (88%) and 29 controls (84%) completed the SWT, including many with co-morbidities. Two week repeatability was good and the SWT was strongly associated with EADL (r=0.51, p<0.001) and LHS (r=0.43, p<0.004), but only weakly with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (r=0.31, p=0.05). Subjects with CAL walked a mean distance of 177.7 m compared with 243.3 m in controls (p<0.001); following bronchodilator therapy the distance walked increased in the CAL group by 13.2% (p=0.009).


CONCLUSIONS
The SWT is a feasible and reproducible measure of exercise tolerance in elderly people with and without airflow obstruction and correlates with other markers of disability. It is sensitive to change following bronchodilation in subjects with CAL, although the change correlates less well with improvements in FEV1. Overall, these results suggest that the SWT might be an appropriate measure to assess interventions in elderly people.
Dyer
C A E
CA
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust, Bath, UK. Chris.Dyer@banes-pct.swest.nhs.uk
Singh
S J
SJ
Stockley
R A
RA
Sinclair
A J
AJ
Hill
S L
SL
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000420:Albuterol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009241:Ipratropium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000187:drug effects; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology
D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D009241:Ipratropium; D000420:Albuterol