title: Improved Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Aerobic Exercise Training in Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine cardiorespiratory fitness in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), before and following participation in a supervised 12-week aerobic exercise training program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten subjects with nonpenetrating TBI (TBI severity: mild, 50%; moderate, 40%; severe, 10%; time since injury [mean ± SD]: 6.6 ± 6.8 years) performed exercise training on a treadmill 3 times a week for 30 minutes at vigorous intensity (70%-80% of heart rate reserve). All subjects completed a cardiopulmonary exercise test, with pulmonary gas exchange measured and a questionnaire related to fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale) at baseline and following exercise training.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After training, increases (P < .01) in peak oxygen consumption ((Equation is included in full-text article.); +3.1 ± 2.4 mL/min/kg), time to volitional fatigue (+1.4 ± 0.8 minutes), and peak work rate (+59 ± 43 W) were observed. At the anaerobic threshold, (Equation is included in full-text article.)(+3.6 ± 2.1 mL/kg/min), treadmill time (+1.8 ± 1.1 minutes), and work rate (+37 ± 39 W) were higher (P < .01) following exercise training. Subjects also reported significantly lower (P < .05) Fatigue Severity Scale composite scores (-0.9 ± 1.3) following exercise training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that individuals with TBI may benefit from participation in vigorous aerobic exercise training with improved cardiorespiratory fitness and diminished fatigue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia (Drs Chin, Woolstenhulme, and Keyser); and Rehabilitation Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (Drs Chin, Chan, Woolstenhulme, and Keyser and Mr Christensen), and Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (Drs Chan and Shenouda), Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: Lisa M K
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Leighton
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Joshua G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Woolstenhulme
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Christian N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Shenouda
authors.forename: Randall E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Keyser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D016896:Treatment Outcome