Correlation of ballistocardiogram with work performance and energy cost for guidance in rehabilitation of cardiac patients

Correlative studies of the resting ballistocardiogram and the ability to expend energy in cardiac patients indicate that the resting ballistocardiogram may be a useful tool in evaluating the functional or work capacity of a cardiac patient for rehabilitation purposes and vocational guidance, and may serve as a screening device for finding those cardiacs, other things being equal, who possess the functional capacity to perform jobs or activities whose energy requirements are known or can be estimated. However, in view of the relatively higher incidence of abnormal resting ballistocardiograms in the older age groups, for practical purposes, this usefulness of the ballistocardiogram may be limited to the cardiac patient under the age of 50.