Applying a physical training program to a group of obese women after 3 months of bariatric surgery could promote a significant increase in CRF only in the trained group, yet also showing that bariatric surgery alone caused an improvement in the lung function of both groups.

Cardiopulmonary assessment through oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) data has shown encouraging results, revealing that we can obtain important clinical information about functional status. Until now, the use of OUES has not been established as a measure of cardiorespiratory capacity in an obese adult population, only in cardiac and pulmonary diseases or pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to characterize submaximal and maximal levels of OUES in a sample of morbidly obese women and analyze its relationship with traditional measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometry and pulmonary function. Thirty-three morbidly obese women (age 39.1 ± 9.2 years) performed Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPX) on a treadmill using the ramp protocol. In addition, anthropometric measurements and pulmonary function were also evaluated. Maximal and submaximal OUES were measured, being calculated from data obtained in the first 50% (OUES50%) and 75% (OUES75%) of total CPX duration. In one-way ANOVA analysis, OUES did not significantly differ between the three different exercise intensities, as observed through a Bland-Altman concordance of 58.9 mL/min/log(L/min) between OUES75% and OUES100%, and 0.49 mL/kg/min/log(l/min) between OUES/kg75% and OUES/kg100%. A strong positive correlation between the maximal (r = 0.79) and submaximal (r = 0.81) OUES/kg with oxygen consumption at peak exercise (VO2peak) and ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VO2VAT) was observed, and a moderate negative correlation with hip circumference (r = -0.46) and body adiposity index (r = -0.50) was also verified. There was no significant difference between maximal and submaximal OUES, showing strong correlations with each other and oxygen consumption (peak and VAT). These results indicate that OUES can be a useful parameter which could be used as a cardiopulmonary fitness index in subjects with severe limitations to perform CPX, as for morbidly obese women.

The ISWT test generated superior metabolic and ventilatory stress than the 6MWT and may be more suitable for assessing cardiopulmonary fitness than self-paced tests.

Load addition on NPLL did not alter cardiovascular parameters and gait training provide better gait performance of subacute stroke patients, which indicates this therapy can be considered useful and safe for these patients.

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The 6 minute walk test (6MWT) and the incremental shuttle walking test (ISWT) have been used as an alternative to the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test (CPX) for functional evaluation as well after rehabilitation programs. The objective was to analysis the cardiorespiratory and metabolic demands among the ISWT, 6MWT and CPX in the obese and the contribution of adiposity markers on this response. An observational and cross-sectional study was conducted with fifteen obese (10 women; 39.4+10.1years), performing CPX, 6MWT and ISWT. The subjects were as initial part of a rehabilitation program and bariatric surgery at the University Hospital. Metabolic and ventilatory variables were recorded by a telemetry system during all tests. Peak oxygen uptake-VO2peak was similar between CPX (18.6±4.0ml/kg/min) and ISWT (15.4±2.9ml/kg/min) and different from 6MWT (13.2±2.5ml/kg/min). There was agreement (3.2ml/kg/min; 95%; IC-3.0-9.4) between VO2peak of CPX and ISWT. CPX duration (R2=0.61;p=0.001) was best-fit by waist circumference (WC) and the body adiposity index(BAI) that reduced 4.7% and 3.2% CPX duration respectively. Forced vital capacity-FVC and WC predicts increasing of carbon dioxide production (VCO2) on CPX (R2=0.95;p=0.001) and ISWT (R2=0.67;p=0.001). In conclusion the obese individuals perform the ISWT and CPX test with similar physiological responses. It is suggested that, ISWT could be an alternative to CPX and that metabolic monitoring of ISWT by telemetry can be useful for the clinical assessment of the functional capacity of the obese.