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Updated: Mar 12, 2026
The Lower Body Positive Pressure Treadmill for Knee Osteoarthritis Rehabilitation
Published on: July 22, 2019
Physiological Responses During the Lower Body Positive Pressure Supported Treadmill Test
Ka-Young Lee1, Jae-Young Han1, Ji-Hyun Kim1
1Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Regional Cardiocerebrovascular Center, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.; Center for Aging and Geriatrics, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea.
Objective:
To quantify changes in cardiopulmonary function using a lower body positive pressure supported (LBPPS) treadmill during the exercise tolerance test (ETT) in healthy subjects before applying the LBPPS treadmill in patients with gait problems.
Methods:
We evaluated 30 healthy subjects who were able to walk independently. The ETT was performed using the Modified Bruce Protocol (stages 1-5) at four levels (0%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) of LBPPS. The time interval at each level of the LBPPS treadmill test was 20 minutes to recover to baseline status. We measured systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, peak heart rate (PHR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), metabolic equivalents (METs), and oxygen consumption rate (VO2) during each LBPPS condition.
Results:
Systolic blood pressure increased as the LBPPS level was increased (40% to 80%). PHR, RPE, METs, and VO2 were negatively associated with the LBPPS condition, although they were not always significant different among the LBPPS levels. The equation from a random effect linear regression model was as follows: VO2 (mL/kg/min)=(2.75×stage)+(-0.14×LBPPS level)+11.9 (r2=0.69).
Conclusion:
Detection of the changes in physiological parameters during a submaximal ETT using the LBPPS system may be helpful for applying the LBPPS treadmill in patients who cannot perform the ETT due to gait problems, even at submaximal intensity.
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