Abstract

Objective: To determine whether cardiorespiratory endurance, a component of physical fitness, in people with cerebral palsy (CP) is lower than that in able-bodied people, and whether the difference in locomotion of CP patients affects their cardiorespiratory endurance. Design: Nonrandomized control trial. Setting: Referred care center. Subjects: Twelve men with CP who were independent in daily life and 7 able-bodied control volunteers. Intervention: Cardiorespiratory endurance of the subjects was measured with an arm ergometer. Main Outcome Measures: Oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR), and physical working capacity (PWC) measured during arm ergometer rotation. Results: The 75% VO2max and 75% HRmax did not differ significantly between CP subjects and control subjects, or between ambulatory CP subjects and wheelchair-bound CP subjects. However, the PWC at 75% HRmax of the CP subjects was significantly lower than that of the control subjects. Conclusion: Cardiorespiratory endurance does not differ significantly between people with CP and able-bodied people. Type of locomotion does not affect cardiorespiratory endurance. However, the highest PWC performed by the CP subjects was significantly lower than that of the control subjects. Verf.-Referat