Table 1.

Studies evaluating stair climbing assessment. n, number of patients. ∗Mean age 73.2 yrs. 61% of patients ASA Class ≥3. Recruited individuals had a history of cardiovascular disease. †MACE defined as a composite of cardiac mortality, myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, life-threatening arrhythmia. ^‡No threshold value for RCRI reported. ^¶Mean age 64.3 yrs. Fifty-eight percent of patients ASA Class ≥3. ^§Includes myocardial ischaemia or infarction, congestive heart failure, new ventilator support ≥24 h, delirium, stroke, surgical site infection, renal insufficiency, unplanned intensive care admission. AUROC, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve; CI, confidence interval; MACE, major adverse cardiac events. MET, metabolic equivalent; RCRI, Revised Cardiac Risk Index.

First author, year (n)	Surgical cohort	Outcomes	Thresholds for prediction	Accuracy of prediction
Buse, 202120 (4,560)	Inpatient, non-cardiac surgery∗	30-day cardiac mortality, MACE, 30-day and 1-yr mortality†	Self-reported ability to climb two flights of stairs (achieve 4 METs)	Prediction of 30-day cardiac mortality and MACE†: RCRI alone: AUROC=0.67 (95% CI, 0.65–0.71)‡ Functional capacity plus RCRI: AUROC=0.72 (95% CI, 0.69–0.75)‡
Reilly, 199919 (600)	Elective, major non-cardiac surgery¶	Cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, infectious, miscellaneous complications§	Poor exercise tolerance defined as self-reported inability to climb two flights of stairs or walk four blocks	Poor exercise tolerance: Sensitivity=0.71 Specificity=0.47 Positive likelihood ratio=1.3 for predicting outcomes