Assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness and physiological responses with different ergometers in people with bipolar disorder: data from the FINEXT-BD study

Abstract

Funding Acknowledgements
Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Background
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental illness in which manic and depressive episodes are combined. People with BD are associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. Assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) indicates the overall health of the person and is essential for the design of the exercise intensity ranges in an individualized way. The assessment of CRF can be performed with different ergometers (treadmill, T vs. cycloergometer, C) and the results may differ.

Purpose
To analyze and compare the CRF and physiological responses of two peak, progressive and ramped protocols on different ergometers (T and C) in people with BD.

Methods
Physiological variables (peak blood pressure, test duration, ventilatory threshold, peak heart rate, peak oxygen uptake [VO2peak], peak metabolic equivalent) assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise tests (T and C) were measured in participants (n=28, 67.8% women, 45.9±12.5 yr old) with BD.

Results
Differences were found in peak systolic blood pressure (T=148±29.5 vs. C=184±32.7 mmHg, P<0.001, Cohen's d=1.14), peak diastolic blood pressure (T=79±10.7 vs. v=88±17.1 mmHg, P<0.01, Cohen's d=0.72) and test duration (C=9.4±3.6 vs. T=11.3±4.9 min, P<0.01, Cohen's d=0.43) with higher values in C (24.5%, 12.4% and 19.6%, respectively). No other statistically significant (P>0.05) between ergometers-differences were found in the rest of studied variables, including VO2peak as the gold standard of CRF assessment (T=23.8±7.6 vs. C=24.6±7.7 mL·kg-1·min-1).

Conclusions
The no differences between ergometers (T vs. C) when assessing CRF and physiological responses in people with BD indicate that both modes of assessment could be used interchangeably. The increased blood pressure response in C compared to T could be due to unfamiliarity with the ergometer and the physiological factors that determine blood pressure.