Prediction of energy cost from peak heart rate in lower extremity amputees

Heart rate, which is an easily measurable biomechanical index, has been known to bear a definite relationship with the energy cost of any activity. An investigation undertaken on two groups of lower extremity rehabilitees and a group of normal, healthy, sedentary, adult males, when the subjects were administered with a battery of tests representing four common activities of daily living and working and a fifth test for exercise tolerance (as suitable), has confirmed that the relationship between peak heart rate (beats/min) and energy expenditure (kcal/min) is linear and can be represented by the equation E=0.068 PHR-4.59, thus making it possible to predict the energy cost of any activity from the peak heart rate value. This method is a more direct, simpler and more accurate one for the assessment of rehabilitation effectiveness in clinics than the more widely used direct measurement of energy cost by indirect calorimetry.