Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine

Original Article: J Korean Acad Rehabil Med. 2007;31(4):423-426.; Usefulness of the Oxygen Uptake Efficiency Slope in the Evaluation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness of the Stroke Patients.; Cheon, Yu Jeong , Kang, Eun Kyoung , Kim, Young Hee , Lim, Min Jeong; ¹Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul Veterans Hospital, Korea. olivace114@freechal.com
²Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea.

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 (VO_2max) 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. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2007; 31: 423-426)

Keywords :Oxygen uptake efficiency slope, Stroke, Cardiorespiratory fitness, Submaximal index, Submaximal exercise test