Cardiorespiratory Response to Exercise in Parkinson's Disease: Associations with Autonomic Dysfunction and Physical...

Both autonomic dysfunction and low levels of physical activity could contribute to reduced cardiorespiratory fitness in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the interrelationship between these concepts is not well understood.

Our aim was to gain more insight into autonomic dysfunction and physical activity in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness in PD.

We included 59 individuals with PD (37% women, mean age 65.1 years; mean disease duration 4.5 years; Hoehn and Yahr stage 1-3). All participants completed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). We examined the association between parameters assessed during a CPET (peak oxygen consumption [VO_2peak], maximum heart rate [HR_max], heart rate recovery at 1 and 3 mins [HR_rec1, HR_rec3]), autonomic dysfunction (Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic dysfunction, SCOPA-AUT), and physical activity in daily life (step counts, measured using a smartphone for a period of 4 weeks). Using multivariable regression, we adjusted for age, sex, and beta blocker use.

Higher SCOPA-AUT was associated with lower HR_max (β = -0.72, 95% CI = [-1.40, -0.04], P = 0.040). Higher step counts were associated with higher HR_rec3 (β = 3.21, 95% CI = [0.56, 5.86], P = 0.019), and with higher VO_2peak (β = 1.16, 95% CI = [0.10, 2.22], P = 0.032). No statistically significant associations were found between both SCOPA-AUT and step counts with HR_rec1.

Both autonomic dysfunction and physical activity are associated with a reduced cardiorespiratory response to exercise in PD, but affected different CPET parameters. Future studies should determine the responsiveness of these CPET parameters to change, in order to implement such parameters as endpoints in clinical trials.