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Cardiorespiratory endurance in people with cerebral palsy measured using an arm ergometer
Y Tobimatsu1, R Nakamura, S Kusano
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled, Tokorozawa City, Japan.
Objective:
To determine whether cardiorespiratory endurance, a component of physical fitness, in people with cerebral palsy (CP) is lower than that in able-bodied people, and whether the difference in locomotion of CP patients affects their cardiorespiratory endurance.
Design:
Nonrandomized control trial.
Setting:
Referred care center.
Subjects:
Twelve men with CP who were independent in daily life and 7 able-bodied control volunteers.
Intervention:
Cardiorespiratory endurance of the subjects was measured with an arm ergometer.
Main Outcome Measures:
Oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR), and physical working capacity (PWC) measured during arm ergometer rotation.
Results:
The 75%VO2max and 75%HRmax did not differ significantly between CP subjects and control subjects, or between ambulatory CP subjects and wheelchair-bound CP subjects. However, the PWC at 75%HRmax of the CP subjects was significantly lower than that of the control subjects.
Conclusion:
Cardiorespiratory endurance does not differ significantly between people with CP and able-bodied people. Type of locomotion does not affect cardiorespiratory endurance. However, the highest PWC performed by the CP subjects was significantly lower than that of the control subjects.