Cardiopulmonary exercise testing. An underutilized diagnostic tool in Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the use of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in major hospitals and medical centers throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to seek information on the way CPET is conducted.


METHODS
Self-reported questionnaires on the use of CPET were mailed during the fall of 2002 to 54 major public and private hospitals and medical centers throughout the KSA. The response rate was 64.2%. The returned questionnaires were coded and data were analyzed.


RESULTS
The findings indicated that more than 85% of the sample was not employing CPET in their medical centers. However, all of the surveyed centers were regularly performing stress electrocardiogram tests. Approximately 21% of those medical centers who did not have CPET are planning to have it in the near future. The most frequent reasons for not conducting CPET were lack of equipment, lack of trained technicians and lack of training in interpreting test results. Moreover, the most important reasons for conducting the CPET were pulmonary problems, followed by cardiac disorders. Treadmill and leg ergometer were used most as an exercise mode. Bruce protocol as well as institution specific protocols were equally used during CPET. Finally, there appears a lack of local cardiorespiratory data, especially for healthy Saudi females at all ages as well as older male group.


CONCLUSIONS
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing as a diagnostic tool for cardiopulmonary diseases was extremely underutilized in Saudi hospitals and medical centers. Much greater efforts are needed to raise the awareness among physicians on the usefulness of CPET.
Al-Hazzaa
Hazzaa M
HM
Exercise Physiology Laboratory, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. halhazzaa@hotmail.com
Al-Mobeireek
Abdullah F
AF
Al-Howaikan
Abdurrahman M
AM
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires