Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1999 Jun; 31(6): 761-6
ABSTRACT: Objective: This study assessed and compared the cardiopulmonary function of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with that of healthy normals in order to provide health professionals with more thorough information about the problems associated with PD.
Methods: 20 men and 23 women were recruited from the Houston metropolitan area. Maximal oxygen consumption and time to maximal exercise in minutes were measured. Exercise was performed on a stationary bicycle using an incremental exercise protocol. Because the assumption of homogeneity of variance was not met for the dependent variable in women, the nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney-U analysis was used . All other group comparisons were analyzed using an independent t-test.
Results: For men and women, there were no significant differences in Vo2max between those having PD and the HN. Likewise, there were no significant differences in time max between women. Comparison of time max between men did show a significant difference. Conclusions: Although there were no significant differences in Vo2 max, indicating that individuals with PD may be less efficient during exercise and therefore unable to exercise as long before reaching Vo2 max. Although women with PD had a higher VO2 max comparisons of VO2 max and time max between those with PD and HN resulted in no significant differences.