Evaluation of cardiorespiratory functional reserve from arm exercise in the elderly

When the subject is not able to satisfy traditional testing procedures, alternative exercises or indices such as arm cranking or the oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) have been proposed. However, the OUES has not yet been used on elderly subjects from an exercise performed with the arms.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the possibility of using the OUES as an index of the cardiorespiratory functional reserve in the elderly when the exercise evaluation test is performed with the arms and when this parameter is estimated from submaximal responses.

Seventeen adults (62-82 years) undergoing total joint arthroplasty of the hip took part in this study. Maximal incremental exercise tests were performed on an arm crank ergometer 1 month before (T₁) and 2 months after (T₂) surgery. Gas exchanges were measured continuously to determine oxygen consumption at peak exercise (V˙O₂ peak) and were used to calculate the OUES. The correlation coefficient was calculated between V˙O₂ peak and OUES, and their relative changes between T₁ and T₂.

V˙O₂ peak was not significantly different between T₁ and T₂: 10.3 ± 0.7 and 9.8 ± 0.5 mL/min per kilogramme respectively. The OUES estimated from submaximal responses did not show a significant difference between T₁ and T₂. Significant correlations were observed between individual V˙O₂ peak and OUES, as well as at T₁ and T₂.

The use of arm cranking exercises and the calculation of the OUES from the submaximal respiratory response can be used for the objective quantification of cardiorespiratory functional reserve in the elderly.