Related Experiment Videos
Energy cost of physical activity in cystic fibrosis
M L Richards1, P S Davies, S C Bell
1School of Human Movement Studies, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. ml.richards@qut.edu.au
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to compare the energy cost of standardized physical activity (ECA) between patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and healthy control subjects.
Design:
Cross-sectional study using patients with CF and volunteers from the community.
Setting:
University laboratory.
Subjects:
Fifteen patients (age 24.6+/-4.6 y) recruited with consent from their treating physician and 16 healthy control subjects (age 25.3+/-3.2) recruited via local advertisement.
Interventions:
Patients and controls walked on a computerised treadmill at 1.5 km/h for 60 min followed by a 60 min recovery period and, on a second occasion, cycled at 0.5 kp (kilopond), 30 rpm followed by a 60 min recovery. The ECA was measured via indirect calorimetry. Resting energy expenditure (REE), nutritional status, pulmonary function and genotype were determined.
Results:
The REE in patients was significantly greater than the REE measured in controls (P=0.03) and was not related to the severity of lung disease or genotype. There was a significant difference between groups when comparing the ECA for walking kg radical FFM (P=0.001) and cycling kg radical FFM (P=0.04). The ECA for each activity was adjusted (ECA(adj)) for the contribution of REE (ECA kJ kg radical FFM 120 min(-1)--REE kJ kg radical FFM 120 min(-1)). ECA(adj) revealed a significant difference between groups for the walking protocol (P=0.001) but no difference for the cycling protocol (P=0.45). This finding may be related to the fact that the work rate during walking was more highly regulated than during cycling.
Conclusions:
ECA in CF is increased and is likely to be explained by an additional energy-requiring component related to the exercise itself and not an increased REE.