Predictive values for cardiopulmonary exercise testing in sedentary Chinese adults

Objective: Normative data for cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) may vary among subjects of different races. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) establish normal standards for cardiopulmonary responses during incremental cycle ergometer testing in order to derive predictive equations for clinically useful variables during CPET of Chinese subjects; and (ii) determine the validity of existing prediction equations of maximal exercise performance for use in our local Chinese population. Methodology: The maximal and submaximal. cardiopulmonary responses were analysed for 95 healthy sedentary adult Chinese subjects (48 men and 47 women; aged 20-70 years) who underwent CPET using a cycle ergometer and an incremental work-rate protocol until symptom limitation. Results: Measurements, at maximal exercise, of oxygen uptake ((V) over dot O-2max), power output and heart rate were regressed on age, height, weight and gender. The predictive equations for these exercise parameters performed better than those published previously in out-sample predictive accuracy. Comparison with previous studies also showed that prediction equations of (V) over dot O-2max. derived from studies based predominantly or exclusively on Caucasian populations overestimated the actual values for our subjects. Conclusions: Previously established prediction equations for maximal exercise performance during CPET based on non-Chinese populations may not be applicable to Chinese subjects in our population.