Unilateral Arm Crank Exercise Test for Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Individuals with Hemiparetic Stroke

Cardiorespiratory fitness assessment with leg cycle exercise testing may be influenced by motor impairments in the paretic lower extremity. Hence, this study examined the usefulness of a unilateral arm crank exercise test to assess cardiorespiratory fitness in individuals with stroke, including sixteen individuals with hemiparetic stroke (mean ± SD age, 56.4±7.5 years) and 12 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Participants performed the unilateral arm crank and leg cycle exercise tests to measure oxygen consumption (VO₂) and heart rate at peak exercise. The VO₂ at peak exercise during the unilateral arm crank exercise test was significantly lower in the stroke group than in the control group (p<0.001). In the stroke group, the heart rate at peak exercise during the unilateral arm crank exercise test did not significantly correlate with the Brunnstrom recovery stages of the lower extremity (p=0.137), whereas there was a significant correlation during the leg cycle exercise test (rho = 0.775, p<0.001). The unilateral arm crank exercise test can detect the deterioration of cardiorespiratory fitness independently of lower extremity motor impairment severity in individuals with hemiparetic stroke. This study is registered with UMIN000014733.