Abstract
Background Physical fitness levels in youth with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) who use wheelchairs are unknown. The 10-m Shuttle Ride Test (SRiT) has recently been introduced as a field test to determine cardiorespiratory fitness in children with cerebral palsy who self-propel a wheelchair.
Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and reproducibility of the SRiT, as well as the physiological responses to the SRiT, in youth with moderate-to-severe OI between 8 and 25 years of age who self-propel a wheelchair at least for long distances.
Design A test-retest design was used.
Methods Thirteen patients with OI (8 boys, 5 girls; mean±SD values for age=15.5±6.4 years) using a manual wheelchair performed 2 SRiTs within 2 weeks. Adverse events, reached stage, peak heart rate (HRpeak), peak respiratory exchange ratio (RERpeak), peak oxygen uptake (V̇o2peak), and peak minute ventilation (V̇epeak) were the main outcome parameters.
Results and Discussion All participants performed a maximal effort at both SRiTs (mean±SD values for HRpeak of 195±9 beats per minute [bpm], RERpeak of 1.32±0.16, V̇o2peak of 25.4±5.6 mL·kg−1·min−1, and V̇epeak of 47.9±18.6 L·min−1), without adverse events. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the reached stage showed excellent reliability (.95). Limits of agreement (LoA) analysis revealed acceptable LoA for reached stage (mean bias=−0.58, range=−2.50 to +1.35). There was a low correlation between reached stage and V̇o2peak (r=.61 and r=.45 for the first and second SRiTs, respectively).
Limitations The influence of wheelchair properties and individually adjusted wheelchair designs was not examined.
Conclusions The SRiT appears to be a feasible, safe, and reproducible maximal field test in youth with OI using wheelchairs at least for long distances. This field test might be useful to provide an indication of physical fitness and to assess the efficacy of interventions on physical fitness in these patients.
Footnotes
Dr Bongers, Dr Takken, and Dr van Brussel provided concept/idea/research design, project management, and fund procurement. All authors provided writing and data analysis. Dr Bongers, Ms Rijks, and Dr van Brussel provided data collection. Mr Harsevoort and Dr van Brussel provided participants. Mr Harsevoort, Dr Takken, and Dr van Brussel provided facilities/equipment. Dr van Brussel provided institutional liaisons. Ms Rijks, Mr Harsevoort, Dr Takken, and Dr van Brussel provided consultation (including review of manuscript before submission). The authors thank the participants and their families for their time and dedication during the study visits.
This study was approved by the medical ethical committees of the University Medical Center Utrecht and Isala Clinics, Zwolle, the Netherlands.
The study was presented as an abstract at the Pediatric Work Physiology (PWP) XXIX Scientific Conference; September 9–13, 2015; Utrecht, the Netherlands.
This study was supported by an unconditional research grant (R2011061) from the Rehabilitation Fund (Revalidatiefonds, Bunnik, the Netherlands).
- Received February 9, 2015.
- Accepted October 14, 2015.
- © 2016 American Physical Therapy Association