The Appropriate Mode of Exercise Testing for Detecting Anaerobic Threshold in Patients with Stroke

The purpose of this study was to clarify the appropriate mode of exercise testing for detecting AT in patients with stroke. Forty subjects participated in this study. Bicycle ergometer, treadmill and one-leg exercise were used to detect AT. Each mode of exercise testing was conducted twice in every subject to investigate the test-retest reliability of AT. AT was determined by the V-slope method. Twenty-six of the subjects performed the test on a bicycle ergometer, 13 on a treadmill, and 17 underwent one-leg exercise. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Although ICC was good to excellent in all modes of exercise testing, the detection rate of AT was highest (92%) in exercise testing on a bicycle ergometer. This result suggested that the bicycle ergometer was the most appropriate mode of exercise testing for detecting AT in patients with stroke among the three modes used in this study.