Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27600918›Full record

ArticleBMC neurology2016

Test-retest reliability and four-week changes in cardiopulmonary fitness in stroke patients: evaluation using a robotics-assisted tilt table.

Jittima Saengsuwan, Lucia Berger, Corina Schuster-Amft, Tobias Nef, Kenneth J Hunt

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC neurology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jittima SaengsuwanInstitute for Rehabilitation and Performance Technology, Division of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Engineering and Information Technology, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Burgdorf, Switzerland.
Lucia BergerResearch Department, Reha Rheinfelden, Rheinfelden, Switzerland.
Corina Schuster-AmftInstitute for Rehabilitation and Performance Technology, Division of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Engineering and Information Technology, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Burgdorf, Switzerland.
Tobias NefARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, Gerontechnology and Rehabilitation Research Group, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Kenneth J HuntInstitute for Rehabilitation and Performance Technology, Division of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Engineering and Information Technology, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Burgdorf, Switzerland. kenneth.hunt@bfh.ch.
Bern University of Applied Sciences · CHReha Rheinfelden · CHUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExercise testing devices for evaluating cardiopulmonary fitness in patients with severe disability after stroke are lacking, but we have adapted a robotics-assisted tilt table (RATT) for cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Using the RATT in a sample of patients after stroke, this study aimed to investigate test-retest reliability and repeatability of CPET and to prospectively investigate changes in cardiopulmonary outcomes over a period of four weeks.

methodsStroke patients with all degrees of disability underwent 3 separate CPET sessions: 2 tests at baseline (TB1 and TB2) and 1 test at follow up (TF). TB1 and TB2 were at least 24 h apart. TB2 and TF were 4 weeks apart. A RATT equipped with force sensors in the thigh cuffs, a work rate estimation algorithm and a real-time visual feedback system was used to guide the patients' exercise work rate during CPET. Test-retest reliability and repeatability of CPET variables were analysed using paired t-tests, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the coefficient of variation (CoV), and Bland and Altman limits of agreement. Changes in cardiopulmonary fitness during four weeks were analysed using paired t-tests.

resultsSeventeen sub-acute and chronic stroke patients (age 62.7 ± 10.4 years [mean ± SD]; 8 females) completed the test sessions. The median time post stroke was 350 days. There were 4 severely disabled, 1 moderately disabled and 12 mildly disabled patients. For test-retest, there were no statistically significant differences between TB1 and TB2 for most CPET variables. Peak oxygen uptake, peak heart rate, peak work rate and oxygen uptake at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) and respiratory compensation point (RCP) showed good to excellent test-retest reliability (ICC 0.65-0.94). For all CPET variables, CoV was 4.1-14.5 %. The mean difference was close to zero in most of the CPET variables. There were no significant changes in most cardiopulmonary performance parameters during the 4-week period (TB2 vs TF).

conclusionsThese findings provide the first evidence of test-retest reliability and repeatability of the principal CPET variables using the novel RATT system and testing methodology, and high success rates in identification of VAT and RCP: good to excellent test-retest reliability and repeatability were found for all submaximal and maximal CPET variables. Reliability and repeatability of the main CPET parameters in stroke patients on the RATT were comparable to previous findings in stroke patients using standard exercise testing devices. The RATT has potential to be used as an alternative exercise testing device in patients who have limitations for use of standard exercise testing devices.

Indexed as

Cardiorespiratory FitnessRoboticsExercise TestFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPersons with DisabilitiesReproducibility of ResultsStrokeTilt-Table TestCardiopulmonary exercise testingRepeatabilityRobotics-assisted tilt tableStrokeTest-retest reliability

Identifiers

PMID27600918
PMCPMC5012058
OpenAlexW2511963231

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.