Response to Exercise in Paraplegics and Able Bodied Subjects: A New Formula to Estimate the Theoretical Oxygen Uptake

Purpose: To compare the response to physical exercise between subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI) and able-bodied (AB) subjects with the objective of developing a new formula for the indirect calculation of oxygen consumption (VO2). Subjects: 20 individuals with paraplegia below Th6 and 22 AB subjects have participated in the study. Measures: A graded work test was performed on an arm ergometer, starting with 10 w and increasing the power in 10 w each minute up to maximal effort. SCI group present a lower response to the different workloads with respect to the AB group. Results: In the SCI group, a statistical association was found between workload and VO2 (r = 0.956, P < 0.001). The proposed equation to calculate the theoretical VO2 was the following: 0.487 + (0.013 · watts performed). Conclusions: SCI males, respect to AB subjects, show differences in ventilatory response to exercises. We propose a new formula for the indirect calculation of VO2 in relation to workload.