Table 2.
Baseline and post-intervention measures of exercise capacity.
| Variable | Exercise group |
Control group |
F; p value | MD [95% CI] | F; p value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD | Baseline | Post-intervention | MD [95% CI] | Baseline | Post-intervention | MD [95% CI] | Within-group | Between-group | Between-group |
| Exercise capacity (CPET) | n = 6 | n = 6 | n = 8 | n = 8 | |||||
| VO2peak (L min−1) | 0.96 ± 0.22 | 1.09 ± 0.28 | 0.14 [−0.01 to 0.28] | 1.08 ± 0.40 | 1.03 ± 0.30 | −0.05 [−0.15 to 0.05] | 1.5; 0.24 | 0.2 [0.03 to 0.33] | 7.2; 0.02 |
| VO2peak (mL kg−1 min−1) | 15.7 ± 3.1 | 17.0 ± 2.5 | 1.3 [−0.1 to 1.8] | 13.9 ± 2.6 | 13.3 ± 2.1 | −0.5 [−2.1 to 1.0] | 0.7; 0.41 | 1.8 [−0.1 to 3.7] | 4.4; 0.06 |
| VO2peak (%pred) | 62 ± 18 | 70 ± 21 | 8 [2 to 15] | 64 ± 17 | 62 ± 13 | −2 [−9 to 5] | 2.8; 0.12 | 10 [2 to 19] | 6.7; 0.02 |
| Wmax (W) | 72 ± 28 | 77 ± 26 | 5 [−6 to 17] | 77 ± 32 | 68 ± 21 | −9 [−24 to 7] | 0.1; 0.73 | 14 [−5 to 33] | 2.6; 0.13 |
| Wmax (%pred) | 73 ± 25 | 78 ± 30 | 6 [−4 to 15] | 69 ± 15 | 64 ± 14 | −5 [−18 to 8] | 0.0; 0.90 | 10 [−6 to 26] | 2.0; 0.19 |
| BORGd CPET | 6.8 ± 2.0 | 6.8 ± 1.7 | 0.0 [−3.1 to 3.1] | 5.8 ± 3.0 | 6.1 ± 1.7 | 0.4 [−1.0 to 1.7] | 0.1; 0.77 | −0.4 [−3.0 to 2.3] | 0.1; 0.77 |
| BORGf CPET | 5.0 ± 2.5 | 6.8 ± 1.9 | 1.8 [−1.6 to 5.3] | 7.4 ± 2.1 | 6.9 ± 2.0 | −0.5 [−3.1 to 2.1] | 0.6; 0.46 | 2.3 [−1.5 to 6.1] | 1.8; 0.21 |
| Nadir SpO2 (%) | 94 ± 2 | 94 ± 4 | 1 [−4 to 5] | 94 ± 6 | 95 ± 3 | 1 [−6 to 7] | 0.2; 0.64 | −0 [−8 to 7] | 0.0; 0.99 |
| HRmax (bpm) | 130 ± 20 | 124 ± 19 | −6 [−13 to 2] | 127 ± 18 | 128 ± 18 | 1 [−15 to 17] | 0.3; 0.61 | −7 [−24 to 11] | 0.6; 0.44 |
| BR (%) | 27 ± 12 | 28 ± 13 | 1 [−14 to 16] | 32 ± 14 | 43 ± 10 | 11 [−0 to 23] | 2.7; 0.12 | −10 [−27 to 6] | 1.9; 0.19 |
| O2 pulse (mL beat−1) | 7 ± 2 | 9 ± 2 | 2 [0 to 2] | 8 ± 3 | 8 ± 3 | 0 [−1 to 1] | 3.4; 0.09 | 2 [1 to 3] | 8.7; 0.01 |
| AT (%VO2peak) | 60 ± 9 | 71 ± 8 | 11 [7 to 15] | 63 ± 10 | 63 ± 10 | 0 [−8 to 9] | 6.4; 0.03 | 11 [1 to 21] | 5.9; 0.03 |
| VEmax/MVV (%) | 73 ± 12 | 72 ± 13 | −1 [−16 to 14] | 68 ± 14 | 58 ± 12 | −9 [−20 to 1] | 2.3; 0.15 | 0.1 [−0.1 to 0.3] | 1.4; 0.26 |
| Exercise capacity (6MWT) | n = 6 | n = 6 | n = 7 | n = 7 | |||||
| 6MWD (m) | 540 ± 71 | 585 ± 77 | 45 [6 to 83] | 477 ± 78 | 469 ± 105 | −8 [−36 to 20] | 3.9; 0.07 | 52 [12 to 93] | 8.1; 0.02 |
| 6MWD (%pred) | 88 ± 9 | 96 ± 5 | 8 [3 to 14] | 77 ± 11 | 76 ± 16 | −1 [−6 to 4] | 5.4; 0.04 | 9 [3 to 16] | 9.1; 0.01 |
| BORGd 6MWT | 3.3 ± 2.0 | 2.8 ± 1.2 | −0.5 [−2.5 to 1.5] | 3.4 ± 1.5 | 3.7 ± 2.4 | 0.3 [−1.2 to 1.9] | 0.2; 0.89 | −0.9 [−3.0 to 1.3] | 0.8; 0.40 |
| BORGf 6MWT | 1.5 ± 1.9 | 2.3 ± 1.8 | 0.8 [−1.3 to 2.8] | 3.4 ± 1.9 | 4.1 ± 1.6 | 0.7 [−1.2 to 2.6] | 1.6; 0.22 | 0.0 [−2.4 to 2.5] | 0.0; 0.97 |
| Nadir SpO2 (%) | 92 ± 4 | 92 ± 3 | 0 [−2 to 1] | 92 ± 2 | 93 ± 1 | 1 [−0 to 2] | 0.6; 0.46 | −1 [−2 to 1] | 1.5; 0.25 |
| Peak HR (bpm) | 125 ± 16 | 126 ± 15 | 1 [−13 to 15] | 122 ± 11 | 121 ± 18 | 0 [−9 to 8] | 0.0; 0.95 | 2 [−12 to 15] | 0.1; 0.80 |
6MWD, six-minute walk distance; 6MWT, six-minute walk test; AT, anaerobic threshold as a percentage of the VO2peak; BORGd, dyspnea; BORGf, fatigue; BR, breathing reserve; CI, confidence interval; CPET, cardiopulmonary exercise test; HR, heart rate; HRmax, maximal heart rate; MD, mean difference; O2 pulse, oxygen pulse; SD, standard deviation; SpO2, arterial oxygen saturation measured via pulse oximetry; VEmax/MVV, maximum minute ventilation, maximum voluntary ventilation ratio; VO2peak, peak rate of oxygen consumption; Wmax, maximum work rate.