The objective of this project is to develop a package of brief, safe and reliable measures of exercise tolerance that, in total, is broadly applicable and highly discriminating in population studies of older persons. The first phase of testing and evaluation has been completed at the Baltimore Veteran's Administration Medical Center through an interagency agreement (Y01-AG-4-0260). The following tests were administered on two occasions 7 to 10 days apart to a volunteer sample of 50 men and women age 54-80 years, 24 of whom had peripheral arterial disease: (1) timed usual and fast pace 4-meter walks; (2) timed usual and fast pace 20-meter walks; (3) 6-minute usual pace corridor walk; (4) seated step-test; and (5) treadmill walk. Heart rate at work, recovery heart rate, and blood pressure were measured. Two questionnaires were also piloted; one is a refinement of Taylor's Leisure Time Physical Activity questionnaire and the other measures physical function including ease of performance and level of fatigue as well as difficulty in performing higher order functional tasks. Preliminary results on test-retest reliability and associations among the walking and seated step tests were presented at GSA, November 1995. Analyses of the reliability and validity of questionnaires and final analyses of the exercise tolerance measures is proceeding. The original scope of work was completed in March 1996, approximately $15,000 under budget. A second phase of testing has been planned and will commence September 1996. To increase the measurement ceiling and improve the reproducibility of the 6-minute corridor walk, several consultants have suggested the walk be performed as fast as possible for the entire 6-minutes or for at least some extended portion. None of the recommended modifications have been tested against the more accepted treadmill walk protocol nor is there data or test-retest reliability. This will be accomplished in the second phase of the pilot study in which we will recruit 20 to 25 older healthy adults and test them twice 7 to 10 days apart. The following tests will be administered: (1) 400m corridor walk, with the first 100m serving as a warmup and the last 300m performed as fast as possible with encouragement and (2) treadmill walk. Heart rate will be continuously monitored and the Borg perceived exertion scale will be presented every 50m.
| Simonsick, E M; Gardner, A W; Poehlman, E T (2000) Assessment of physical function and exercise tolerance in older adults: reproducibility and comparability of five measures. Aging (Milano) 12:274-80 |
