Peak Responses during Exercise Treadmill Testing using Individualized Ramp Protocol and Modified Bruce Protocol in...

Exercise capacity is well known to be an important prognostic factor in patients with cardiovascular disease and among healthy persons.

To determine if there are any differences between the peak exercise response during exercise treadmill testing with the individualized ramp protocol and the modified Bruce protocol in elderly patients.

The study included 40 patients (both male and female), aged 70 years and older, who had not had a baseline history of the confirmed coronary artery disease or heart failure diagnoses. All patients underwent exercise treadmill testing using modified Bruce protocol and individualized ramp protocol for 2 consecutive days. Peak heart rate, peak systolic and diastolic blood pressure, peak pressure-rate double product, exercise duration, and peak metabolic equivalents were recorded in both tests. Perceived level of exertion was evaluated using the Borg 10-point scale.

The average duration of exercise was longer for the ramp protocol than for the modified Bruce protocol. When the modified Bruce protocol was used, patients achieved a lower workload than they did in using the ramp protocol. The rating of perceived exertion using the revised Borg scale (0 to 10) was 5.6±1.4 for the ramp protocol and 8.7±1.4 for the modified Bruce protocol, which indicates that the patients found the ramp protocol easier.

In elderly patients the individualized ramp treadmill protocol allows to achieve the optimal test duration with higher degrees of workload and greater patient comfort during the test more often than does the modified Bruce protocol.