Reliability of peak cardiorespiratory responses in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the test-retest reliability of acute physiologic responses in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).


METHODS
Repeated measures within 1 week.


METHODS
Brain injury rehabilitation program and community rehabilitation hospital.


METHODS
Thirty-six inpatients or their legal guardians.


METHODS
Each patient performed a symptom-limited incremental cycle ergometer test to voluntary fatigue on 2 separate occasions within 1 week.


METHODS
Peak values of power output and cardiorespiratory responses measured with a metabolic cart interfaced with an electrocardiogram.


RESULTS
Intraclass correlations between the 2 trials were as follows: power output,.96; absolute oxygen uptake,.98; relative oxygen uptake,.97; heart rate,.82; ventilation rate,.96; and respiratory exchange ratio,.81. Bland-Altman plots showed that all data points were within the 95% confidence limits of the mean value of the 2 trials for each variable.


CONCLUSIONS
The reliability of the peak cardiorespiratory responses during non-weight-bearing exercise was high in patients with TBI in a controlled laboratory setting. Therefore, aerobic exercise programs can be accurately prescribed, and changes resulting from such interventions can be confidently evaluated in this population.
Bhambhani
Yagesh
Y
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. yagesh.bhambhani@ualberta.ca
Rowland
Gary
G
Farag
Mamdouh
M
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004562:Electrocardiography; D016552:Ergometry; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index