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Updated: Jun 11, 2026
Conducting Maximal and Submaximal Endurance Exercise Testing to Measure Physiological and Biological Responses to Acute Exercise in Humans
Published on: October 17, 2018
Risks associated with exercise testing and sports participation in cystic fibrosis
Katharina Ruf1, Bernd Winkler, Alexandra Hebestreit
1Children's Hospital of the University, University of Würzburg, Germany. ruf_k@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Background:
Severe adverse reactions (SARs) associated with physical exercise have not been systematically studied in cystic fibrosis (CF).
Methods:
Two surveys were conducted to assess the incidence of exercise-related SARs: a caregiver survey asking for complications associated with exercise testing and in-hospital training therapy and a web-based patient survey asking for problems with exercise.
Results:
78 of 107 CF facilities caring for 4208 patients responded to the caregiver survey, 256 patients answered the web-based survey. No SARs were reported for 713 exercise tests. With in-hospital training, the yearly incidence of exercise-related SARs such as pneumothorax, cardiac arrhythmia, injury or hypoglycaemia was <1% each, the respective lifetime incidences reported by the patients were 0.8-6.3%. 67% of the patients reported no SARs with exercise.
Conclusions:
Exercise testing is safe in patients with CF. Despite the limitations in quality of data, the incidence of exercise-related SARs appears low in this population.
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