Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is well tolerated in people with Alzheimer-related cognitive impairment.
OBJECTIVE
To retrospectively assess whether cardiopulmonary exercise testing would be well tolerated in individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) compared with a nondemented peer group.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed 575 cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) in individuals with and without cognitive impairment caused by AD.


METHODS
University medical center.


METHODS
Exercise tests (N=575) were reviewed for nondemented individuals (n=340) and those with AD-related cognitive impairment (n=235).


METHODS
Not applicable.


METHODS
The main outcome measure for this study was reporting the reason for CPET termination. The hypothesis reported was formulated after data collection.


RESULTS
We found that in cognitively impaired individuals, CPETs were terminated because of fall risk more often, but that overall test termination was infrequent-5.5% versus 2.1% (P=.04) in peers without cognitive impairment. We recorded 6 cardiovascular and 7 fall risk events in those with AD, compared with 7 cardiovascular and 0 fall risk events in those without cognitive impairment.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support using CPETs to assess peak oxygen consumption in older adults with cognitive impairment caused by AD.
Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS. Electronic address: sbillinger@kumc.edu.
Sandra A
SA
Billinger
University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, Fairway, KS; Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Eric D
ED
Vidoni
University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, Fairway, KS; Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Colby S
CS
Greer
University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, Fairway, KS; Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Rasinio S
RS
Graves
Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Anna E
AE
Mattlage
University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, Fairway, KS; Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS.
Jeffrey M
JM
Burns
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
Adverse effects; Dementia; Rehabilitation