Use of exercise testing in the evaluation of interventional efficacy: an official ERS statement
A new European Respiratory Society (ERS) Statement has been published in ERJ reviewing the role exercise tests have in patients with chronic respiratory diseases.
The review covered studies that report the evaluation or use of the incremental (or ramp) exercise test (IET), the constant work-rate exercise test (CWRET), the 6-min walk test (6MWT), the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) and the endurance shuttle walk test (ESWT) in adults and children with chronic respiratory diseases.
The statement concludes that "in respiratory patients, exercise testing is useful in the clinical and research setting to assess the effects of interventions. It also allows appraisal of the degree and mechanisms of impairment, and it is a strong independent prognostic factor. Several methods for evaluating exercise capacity are available. The severity and cause of exercise intolerance are best assessed by conducting standardised laboratory exercise testing in which detailed physiological measurements are made while patients perform cycle ergometry or treadmill walking. Protocols can be either constant (“endurance”) or incremental. Simpler tests are also used, although the physiological information gathered is more limited: the 6MWT is relatively simple and has been used extensively; the ISWT and ESWT are better standardised and have been also used in several clinical trials."
The study is available for download at the following link: click here
