Oxygen uptake kinetics to assess cardiorespiratory fitness in obese patients Uso de la cinética del consumo de oxígeno para la evaluación de la capacidad cardiorrespiratoria en pacientes con obesidad

Abstract

© 2018, Sociedad Medica de Santiago. All rights reserved. Background: The evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness (RCC) using maximal or peak oxygen consumption (VO2), requires a high level of effort in obese patients. We propose a method to evaluate RCC using constant and moderate loads, called VO2 kinetics (tau). Aim: To determine the relationship between tau and peak VO2 in patients with obesity. Material and Methods: Forty patients (87% females) aged 37 ± 12 years and with a body mass index (BMI) of 34.6 ± 4.0 kg/m2, were divided into two groups according to the applied workload (0.5 and 0.8 Watts/kg body mass) using a cycle ergometer and Cortex Metalyzer 3b equipment. The protocol was started with 6 minutes at constant load and then increments of 20-25 Watts every two min were made until determination of the peak VO2. Results: The tau value was 51.8 ± 17.6 s, the absolute peak VO2 was 2.0 ± 0.7 L/min and the relative peak VO2 was 26.6 ± 30.0 ml/kg/min. There was a significant diff