J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2007 Aug;31(4):423-426.

Usefulness of the Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope in the Evaluation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness of the Stroke Patients

• Cheon YJ
• Kang EK
• Kim YH
• Lim MJ

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the usefulness of the oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) in the evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness of the stroke patients. METHOD: 25 stroke patients who could walk independently were included in this syudy. The symptom-limited graded treadmill test was performed to assess cardiovascular fitness. During the test, minute ventilation (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and anaerobic threshold (AT) were measured through respiratory gas analysis. A linear relationship was established between the oxygen consumption and the logarithmic transformation of minute ventilation. From this linear relationship, we obtained a slope that represented the OUES. OUES values were obtained from data corresponding to 75% (OUES75), 90% (OUES90) and 100% (OUES100) of the exercise duration.
RESULTS
The differences among OUES75, OUES90 and OUES100 groups were not statistically significant and these three groups were highly correlated to each other. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was positively correlated with OUES75 (r=0.723), OUES90 (r=0.762), OUES100 (r=0.809) and AT (r=0.696), respectively (p<0.01).
CONCLUSION
OUES is considered to be the valuable submaximal index to evaluate the cardiorespiratory fitness of stroke patients who can not reach maximal exercise.

Keyword

Oxygen uptake efficiency slope; Stroke; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Submaximal index; Submaximal exercise test

MeSH Terms

Anaerobic Threshold
Carbon Dioxide
Exercise Test
Humans
Oxygen Consumption
Oxygen*
Stroke*
Ventilation
Carbon Dioxide
Oxygen