Treadmill test and step test for assessment of exercise-induced bronchospasm: are they interchangeable?

• Grant number: 15/06964-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: February 28, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Simone Dal Corso
• Grantee: Jessyca Pachi Rodrigues Selman
• Host Institution: Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE). Campus Vergueiro. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/10062-1 - TREADMILL TEST AND STEP TEST FOR EVALUATING OF EXERCISE-INDUCED BRONCHOSPASM: ARE THEY INTERCHANGEABLE?, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The bronchial provocation tests with exercises more commonly used and cited in the literature are the tests performed with either cycle ergometer or treadmill. The step test is a simple test, with the advantage of being performed in any environment. The aim of this study is to compare the incremental step test (IST) with the treadmill test (TT) for assessment of exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) in patients with diagnosis of asthma; secondarily, contrasting the demand during cardiopulmonary exercise between both tests. Fifty-three patients with asthma will be recruited from the Asthma Clinic of the Department of Pediatrics of the Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), aged between 7 and 18 years, clinically stable and with absence of symptoms compatible with viral infection (cold or flu) over the last six weeks. The exclusion criteria will be score 5 of severity in the GINA, the presence of other chronic lung disease, comorbidities, and smoking. The protocol consists of two separate visits (72 hours apart), and the order of the tests will be randomized. On both visits patients carry out the following sequence: (1) pre-exercise spirometry, (2) exercise testing (TDI or TT, according to the randomization) concomitant to expired gas analysis and (3) spirometry in 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes after exercise. The hypothesis of our study is that IST and TT will be equivalent in inducing EIB, because cardiopulmonary demands will also be similar to those tests. Whether our hypothesis be confirmed, IST can be used as an exercise test of bronchial provocation, with the advantage of being more accessible and cost-effective to be performed in outpatient clinic. (AU)