Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is well tolerated in people with Alzheimer-related cognitive impairment.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To retrospectively assess whether cardiopulmonary exercise testing would be well tolerated in individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) compared with a nondemented peer group. DESIGN:We retrospectively reviewed 575 cardiopulmonary exercise tests (CPETs) in individuals with and without cognitive impairment caused by AD. SETTING:University medical center. PARTICIPANTS:Exercise tests (N=575) were reviewed for nondemented individuals (n=340) and those with AD-related cognitive impairment (n=235). INTERVENTIONS:Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:The main outcome measure for this study was reporting the reason for CPET termination. The hypothesis reported was formulated after data collection. RESULTS:We found that in cognitively impaired individuals, CPETs were terminated because of fall risk more often, but that overall test termination was infrequent-5.5% versus 2.1% (P=.04) in peers without cognitive impairment. We recorded 6 cardiovascular and 7 fall risk events in those with AD, compared with 7 cardiovascular and 0 fall risk events in those without cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings support using CPETs to assess peak oxygen consumption in older adults with cognitive impairment caused by AD.

SUBMITTER: Billinger SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4149924 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature