Maximal Cardiorespiratory Fitness Testing in Individuals With Chronic Stroke With Cognitive Impairment: Practice Test Effects and Test-Retest Reliability

Abstract Objectives To evaluate, for individuals with chronic stroke with cognitive impairment, (1) the effects of a practice test on peak cardiorespiratory fitness test results; (2) cardiorespiratory fitness test-retest reliability; and (3) the relationship between individual practice test effects and cognitive impairment. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Rehabilitation center. Participants A convenience sample of 21 persons (men [n=12] and women [n=9]; age range, 48–81y; 44.9±36.2mo poststroke) with cognitive impairments who had sufficient lower limb function to perform the test. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure Peak oxygen consumption (V o2 peak, ml·kg−1 ·min−1 ). Results Test-retest reliability of V o2 peak was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient model 2,1 [ICC2,1 ]=.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], .86–.98). A paired t test showed that there was no significant difference for the group for V o2 peak obtained from 2 symptom-limited cardiorespiratory fitness tests performed 1 week apart on a semirecumbent cycle ergometer (test 2–test 1 difference, −.32ml·kg−1 ·min−1 ; 95% CI, −.69 to 1.33ml·kg−1 ·min−1 ; P =.512). Individual test-retest differences in V o2 peak were, however, positively related to general cognitive function as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (ρ=.485; P