Reproducibility, validity and responsiveness of the 200-metre fast walk test in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation

Objective: To investigate the reliability, validity and responsiveness of the 200-metre fast walk test in patients with coronary artery disease engaged in a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Tertiary care hospital. Subjects: Thirty stable patients with coronary artery disease (51.9 ± 8.7 years), referred to the cardiac rehabilitation department after an acute coronary syndrome. Intervention: Not applicable. Main measures: Six-minute walk test distance, time to perform the 200-m fast walk test, peak power output of the graded maximal exercise test, before and after the programme; SF-36 quality of life questionnaire at baseline. Walk tests were performed tw…

''Limits in endurance performance of octogenarian athletes''

TO THE EDITOR: A recent study of Trappe et al. (3) showed that the aerobic power of octogenarian lifelong endurance athletes was approximately double that of untrained octogenarians (38 vs. 21 ml·kg 1 ·min 1 ). These remarkable aerobic capacities are the highest ever recorded in this age group. However, the impact of the identified physiological capacities on actual endurance performances has not been addressed, as no running performance indicators of the octogenarian athletes were provided in this study. We hereby suggest that, although trained octogenarian athletes can achieve levels of aerobic fitness well above their untrained counterpart, as a group they actually have not yet reached t…

Cardiovascular prevention and at-risk behaviours in a large population of amateur rugby players.

Background and aim We aimed to investigate cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviours prospectively in a large population of French amateur rugby players. Methods An anonymous questionnaire was displayed to rugby players aged over 12 years enrolled in the 2014–2015 French amateur rugby championship from the Burgundy region ( n = 5140). Questions addressed awareness on: (a) cardiovascular prevention; (b) tobacco, alcohol and highly caffeinated beverages consumption; and (c) adherence to prevention guidelines (ECG checks, training in basic life support, avoidance of sports practice during fever/infectious episodes). Results Among the 640 participants who completed the questionnaires, m…

Are first ventilatory threshold and 6-minute walk test heart rate interchangeable? A pilot study in healthy elderlies and cardiac patients

International audience; BACKGROUND: Heart rate (HR) at the ventilatory threshold (VT) is often used to prescribe exercise intensity in cardiac rehabilitation. Some studies have reported no significant difference between HR at VT and HR measured at the end of a 6-min walk test (6-MWT) in cardiac patients. The aim of this work was to assess the potential equivalence between those parameters at the individual level. METHOD: Three groups of subjects performed a stress test and a 6-MWT: 22 healthy elderlies (GES, 77 +/- 3.7 years), 10 stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (GMI, 50.9 +/- 4.2 years) and 30 patients with chronic heart failure (GHF, 63.3 +/- 10 years). We analyzed the correl…

Poststroke Disposition and Associated Factors in a Population-Based Study

Background and Purpose— The organization of poststroke care will be a major challenge in coming years. We aimed to assess hospital disposition after stroke and its associated factors in clinical practice. Methods— All cases of stroke from 2006 to 2010 were identified from the population-based Stroke Registry of Dijon, France. Demographic features, risk factors, and prestroke treatments were recorded. Admission stroke severity was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. At discharge, we collected dementia, disability using the modified Rankin Scale, length of stay, and hospital disposition (home, rehabilitation, convalescent home, and nursing home). Multivariate…

Test–retest reliability and responsiveness of centre of pressure measurements in patients with hip osteoarthritis

International audience; Objective: The aim of this study was to determine a set of measures for the evaluation of balance in patients suffering from hip osteoarthritis (OA) that were both reliable and responsive to change.Design: Three groups of subjects; Healthy, hip OA patients without surgery, and hip OA with surgery (pre and post-surgery) were included in this study. Subjects had to perform balance tests in two positions: standard and narrowed stance. CoP-based measures test-retest reliability was assessed in hip OA without surgery group, responsiveness were assessed between all groups and between pre and postsurgery.Results: Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) values from hip OA w…

Walk tests : a standardizable tool to assess capacities in cardio-vascular disease

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases remain the first cause of mortality and handicap in the world. With the improvements in the management of the acute phase, the number of patients with limited exercise capacity due to chronic cardiovascular disease is increasing. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a thorough study of the use of standardized walk tests to assess exercise capacity in coronary artery disease patients. We first explain the concepts of handicap and quality of life in chronic diseases, and the need for functional evaluations in order to assess their impact and evolution. We then present the current modalities of cardiac rehabilitation, emphasizing the importance of p…

Barriers to physical activity in coronary artery disease patients: Development and validation of a new scale

Abstract Objective To develop and validate a self-report questionnaire to measure barriers to regular physical activity (PA) in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods Phase 1: 17 patients completed a semi-structured interview. After grouping and reformulating the reported barriers, their pertinence was reevaluated by the patients. Then, a decision algorithm was used to select items. A principal component analysis was performed to determine content validity. Phase 2: 49 patients completed the questionnaire resulting from phase 1 twice, 7 days apart, and questionnaires to evaluate depression, anxiety, and the level of physical activity. Construct validity was evaluated by…

Reliability of isokinetic assessment of shoulder-rotator strength: a systematic review of the effect of position.

Context:Isokinetic assessment of shoulder internal- (IR) and external-rotator (ER) strength is commonly used with many different postures (sitting, standing, or supine) and shoulder positions (frontal or scapular plane with 45° or 90° of abduction).Objective:To conduct a systematic review to determine the influence of position on the intersession reliability of the assessment of IR and ER isokinetic strength, to identify the most reliable position, and to determine which isokinetic variable appears to be most stable in intersession reliability.Evidence Acquisition:A systematic literature search through MEDLINE and Pascal Biomed databases was performed in October 2009. Criteria for inclusion…

The involvement of ankle muscles in maintaining balance in the upright posture is higher in elderly fallers

International audience; The purpose of this study was to determine whether the mechanical contribution of ankle muscles in the upright stance differed among young adults (YA) (n = 10, age: similar to 24.3), elderly non-fallers (ENF) (n = 12, age: similar to 77.3) and elderly fallers (EF) (n = 20, age: similar to 80.7). Torque and electromyographic (EMG) activity were recorded on the triceps surae and tibialis anterior during maximum and submaximum contractions in the seated position. EMG activity was also recorded in subjects standing still. Plantar flexor (PF) and dorsal flexor (DF) torques generated in the upright posture were estimated from the torque-EMG relationship obtained during sub…

Even a low-dose of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduces mortality by 22% in adults aged ≥60 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Type de document : revue de littérature; International audience; Background The health benefits of 150 min a week of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) in older adults, as currently recommended, are well established, but the suggested dose in older adults is often not reached.Objectives We aimed to determine whether a lower dose of MVPA was effective in reducing mortality, in participants older than 60 years.Methods The PubMed and Embase databases were searched from inception to February 2015. Only prospective cohorts were included. Risk ratios of death were established into four doses based on weekly Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET)-minutes, defined as inactive (refe…

Transcultural adaptation and validation of a French version of the Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD-Fr).

Effects of a home-based rehabilitation program in obese type 2 diabetics.

International audience; OBJECTIVE: To assess, in obese type 2 diabetics (T2D), the impact of a home-based effort training program and the barriers to physical activity (PA) practice. METHOD: Twenty-three obese T2D patients (52.7 ± 8.2 years, BMI = 38.5 ± 7.6 kg/m(2)) were randomized to either a control group (CG), or an intervention group (IG) performing home-based cyclergometer training during 3 months, 30 min/day, with a monthly-supervised session. The initial and final measurements included: maximal graded effort test on cyclergometer, 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and 200-meter fast walk test (200mFWT), quadriceps maximal isometric strength, blood tests and quality of life assessment (SF- 3…

Biomechanical effectiveness of a distraction-rotation knee brace in medial knee osteoarthritis: preliminary results.

Abstract Background Non-pharmacological therapies are recommended for the care of knee osteoarthritis patients. Unloader knee braces provide an interesting functional approach, which aims to modulate mechanical stress on the symptomatic joint compartment. We aimed to confirm the biomechanical effects and evaluate functional benefits of a new knee brace that combines a valgus effect with knee and tibial external rotation during gait in medial osteoarthritis patients. Methods Twenty patients with unilateral symptomatic medial knee osteoarthritis were included and they performed two test sessions of 3D gait analysis with and without the brace at the initial evaluation (W0) and after 5weeks (W5…