title: Are first ventilatory threshold and 6-minute walk test heart rate interchangeable? A pilot study in healthy elderlies and cardiac patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Heart rate (HR) at the ventilatory threshold (VT) is often used to prescribe exercise intensity in cardiac rehabilitation. Some studies have reported no significant difference between HR at VT and HR measured at the end of a 6-min walk test (6-MWT) in cardiac patients. The aim of this work was to assess the potential equivalence between those parameters at the individual level.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three groups of subjects performed a stress test and a 6-MWT: 22 healthy elderlies (GES, 77 ± 3.7 years), 10 stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (GMI, 50.9 ± 4.2 years) and 30 patients with chronic heart failure (GHF, 63.3 ± 10 years). We analyzed the correlation, mean bias, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of the mean bias and the magnitude of the bias between 6-MWT-HR and VT-HR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference between 6-MWT and VT-HR in GHF (99.1 ± 8.8 vs 91.6 ± 18.6 bpm, P=0.016) but not in GES and GMI. The correlation between those 2 parameters was high for GMI (r=0.78, P<0.05), and moderate for GES and GHF (r=0.48 and 0.55, respectively, P<0.05). The 95% CI of bias was large (>30%) in GES and GHF and acceptable in GMI (8-12%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  6-MWT-HR and VT-HR do not appear interchangeable at the individual level in healthy elderlies and CHF patients. In CAD patients, further larger studies and/or the development of other walk tests could help in confirming the interest of a training prescription based on walking performance, after an exhaustive study of their cardiometabolic requirements.
authors.affiliation: Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, CHU de Dijon, 21000 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Morard
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire MOVE (EA6314), faculté des sciences du sport, université de Poitiers, 8, rue Jean-Monnet, 86000 Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bosquet
authors.affiliation: Inserm CIC-P 803, plateforme d'investigation technologique, CHU de Dijon, France; Inserm-U1093 "Cognition, action, et plasticité sensorimotrice", Dijon, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Laroche
authors.affiliation: Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, CHU de Dijon, 21000 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Joussain
authors.affiliation: Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, CHU de Dijon, 21000 Dijon, France; Inserm CIC-P 803, plateforme d'investigation technologique, CHU de Dijon, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Besson
authors.affiliation: Inserm-U1093 "Cognition, action, et plasticité sensorimotrice", Dijon, France; Centre d'expertise de la performance, faculté des sciences du sport, université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Deley
authors.affiliation: Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, CHU de Dijon, 21000 Dijon, France; Inserm CIC-P 803, plateforme d'investigation technologique, CHU de Dijon, France; Inserm-U1093 "Cognition, action, et plasticité sensorimotrice", Dijon, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Casillas
authors.affiliation: Pôle rééducation-réadaptation, CHU de Dijon, 21000 Dijon, France; Inserm CIC-P 803, plateforme d'investigation technologique, CHU de Dijon, France; Inserm-U1093 "Cognition, action, et plasticité sensorimotrice", Dijon, France. Electronic address: vincent.gremeaux@chu-dijon.fr.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gremeaux
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D013997:Time Factors; D000070857:Walk Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*