International Journal of General Medicine (Apr 2022)

Estimating VO2peak in 18–90 Year-Old Adults: Development and Validation of the FitMáx©-Questionnaire

  • Meijer R,
  • van Hooff M,
  • Papen-Botterhuis NE,
  • Molenaar CJL,
  • Regis M,
  • Timmers T,
  • van de Poll-Franse LV,
  • Savelberg HHCM,
  • Schep G

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 3727 – 3737

Abstract

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Renske Meijer,1,2 Martijn van Hooff,1,2 Nicole E Papen-Botterhuis,3 Charlotte JL Molenaar,4 Marta Regis,3,5 Thomas Timmers,6 Lonneke V van de Poll-Franse,7– 9 Hans HCM Savelberg,2 Goof Schep1 1Department of Sports and Exercise, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, the Netherlands; 2Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; 3Academy, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, the Netherlands; 4Department of Surgery, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, the Netherlands; 5Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands; 6Department of Research & Development, Interactive Studios, Rosmalen, the Netherlands; 7Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization, Utrecht, the Netherlands; 8Division of Psychosocial Research & Epidemiology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 9Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the NetherlandsCorrespondence: Renske Meijer, Department of Sports and Exercise, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, the Netherlands, Tel +31 40 8888 000, Email [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) plays an essential role in health outcomes and quality of life. However, it is often not assessed nor estimated. Objective CRF assessment is costly, labour intensive and not widely available. Patient-reported outcome measures estimate CRF more cost-efficiently, but current questionnaires lack accuracy. The aim of this study is to develop a new self-reported questionnaire to estimate CRF.Materials and Methods: The FitMáx©-questionnaire, consisting of only three questions assessing walking, stair climbing, and cycling capacity, was compared with the commonly used Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) and Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ). These questionnaires were compared to peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) as measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing. This study included 759 cardiac, pulmonary and oncologic patients and healthy persons aged 18‒90.Results: FitMáx© strongly correlated (r = 0.94 (0.92‒0.95) SEE = 4.14 mL∙kg− 1∙min− 1) with measured VO2peak. Bias between predicted and measured VO2peak was − 0.24 (− 9.23‒8.75; 95% limits of agreement) mL·kg− 1·min− 1. The FitMáx© scored superiorly on correlation and SEE compared with the DASI and VSAQ, r = 0.75 (0.68‒0.80) SEE = 4.62 mL∙kg− 1∙min− 1 and r = 0.87 (0.83‒0.90) SEE = 6.75 mL∙kg− 1∙min− 1, respectively.Conclusion: FitMáx© is a valid and accessible questionnaire to estimate CRF expressed as VO2peak in clinical practice and shows substantial improvement compared to currently used questionnaires.Keywords: cardiorespiratory fitness, sports medicine, rehabilitation, self-reported questionnaire, cardiopulmonary exercise testing

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