Performance during cardiopulmonary exercise test and quality of life of long-distance elderly runners and of non-exerciser elderly

Abstract

Aim. Regular physical exercises are associated to decreased morbidity and mortality, but their relationship with quality of life perception is still not well established. The aim of this paper was to compare cardiopulmonary exercise indicators of functional performance and quality of life (QOL) between a group of untrained elderly (GUE) and a group of trained elderly (GTE) in long-distance running. Methods. GUE was made up of 19 individuals with mean age of 73.5 +/- 6.4 years and GTE by 27 trained elderly with mean age of 73.1 +/- 4.3 years. All were submitted to cardiopulmonary and metabolic evaluation by expired gases analysis. Maximum physical capacity was determined on a motor-driven treadmill with continuous graded protocol and fixed slope of 1%. Quality of Life was evaluated in four domains (physical, psychological, social relations and environment) by Whoqol-Bref questionnaire (WHO) and quantified by total score for each domain. Results. At maximal oxygen intake, GUE and GTE presented: VO2max: 27.0 +/- 5.4 vs. 38.1 +/- 4.5 mL/[kg.min] (P<0.001); O-2 pulse: 11.7 +/- 3.0 vs. 15.5 +/- 2.4 mL/bpm (P<0.001); running speed: 9.7 +/- 2.5 vs. 13.8 +/- 1.7 km/h (P<0.001) and tolerance time: 9.6 +/- 2.9 vs. 14.8 +/- 4.4 mm (P<0.001). QOL measured by Whoqol-Bref questionnaire in four domains for GUE and GTE was respectively: physical: 75.6 +/- 13.6 vs. 80.6 +/- 14.2 (P=0.210), psychological: 79.2 +/- 11.3 vs. 79.2 +/- 13.8 (P=0.893), social relations: 74.6 +/- 14.3 vs. 74.7 +/- 19.1 (P=0.726), environment: 61.4 +/- 15.9 vs. 69.0 +/- 15.5 (P=0.131). Conclusion. GTE cardiopulmonary performance was better as compared to GUE, and QOL of the elderly from both groups was not associated to cardiopulmonary exercise test performance.