Treadmill test is limited in elderly patients with peripheral arterial disease.
BACKGROUND
To describe the applicability and the performance of the treadmill test in elderly patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and without PAD (non-PAD).


METHODS
Fifty consecutive PAD and non-PAD elderly patients performed a progressive treadmill test. The proportion of patients who were unable to perform the test and the maximal walking distance were obtained.


RESULTS
The proportion of patients who were unable to perform the treadmill test was similar between PAD (16.6 %) and non-PAD patients (12.5 %), P = .57. Maximal walking time for patients who performed the treadmill test was not different between PAD (232 +/- 218 s) and non-PAD patients (308 +/- 289 s), P = .37.


CONCLUSIONS
The treadmill test is limited in almost 20 % of elderly patients with PAD and non-PAD. These results highlight the need for other forms of exercise stress tests in order to assess the peripheral limitation of patients with PAD.
Wolosker
N
N
School of Physical Education, University of Pernambuco, Santo Amaro, BR Recife, Brazil.
Ritti-Dias
Raphael M
RM
Câmara
L C
LC
Garcia
Y M
YM
Jacob-Filho
W
W
Puech-Leao
P
P
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001938:Brazil; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016138:Walking