Int J Sports Med 2001; 22(8): 593-597
DOI: 10.1055/s-2001-18523
Training and Testing

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Reliability of Gas Exchange Measurements from Two Different Spiroergometry Systems

T. Meyer1 , T. Georg2 , C. Becker1 , W. Kindermann1
  • 1Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany
  • 2Institute of Medical Biometrics, Epidemiology, and Medical Informatics University of Saarland, Homburg, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
20 November 2001 (online)

Reliability of two different spiroergometric systems was investigated by comparing gas exchange measurements from two consecutive identical bicycle ergometer ramp exercise tests which were conducted after an initial habituation trial. Twenty-three healthy subjects (age: 25±5 years; weight: 71±10kg; peak oxygen uptake: 55±9 ml×min-1×kg-1) took part in the study. One apparatus was a portable mixing chamber system (MetaMax I, Cortex, Leipzig, Germany), the other one a stationary spiroergometric device measuring in the breath-by-breath mode (MetaLyzer 3B, Cortex). There were no relevant systematic changes in gas exchange measurements and heart rate from test 1 to test 2. Intra-class reliability coefficients were 0.984 (oxygen uptake = V˙O2), 0.977 (carbon dioxide output = V˙CO2), and 0.973 (minute ventilation = V˙E) for the MetaMax I, and 0.969 (V˙O2), 0.964 (V˙CO2), and 0.953 (V˙E) for the MetaLyzer 3B. Bland-Altman plots revealed a slightly smaller variability of MetaLyzer 3B measurements compared to those of MetaMax I. It is concluded that the spiroergometric devices MetaMax I and MetaLyzer 3B represent reliable instruments for exercise testing in sports medical routine and research. This is important to decide if longitudinal changes in gas exchange measurements represent clinically meaningful differences in performance or merely inconsistencies of the measuring tool.

References

  • 1 Atkinson G, Nevill A M. Statistical methods for assessing measurement error (reliability) in variables relevant to sports medicine.  Sports Med. 1998;  26 217-238
  • 2 Becque M D, Katch V, Marks C, Dyer R. Reliability and within subject variability of V˙E, V˙O2, heart rate and blood pressure during submaximum cycle ergometry.  Int J Sports Med. 1993;  14 220-223
  • 3 Bland J M, Altman D G. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement.  Lancet. 1986;  1 307-310
  • 4 Buchfuhrer M J, Hansen J E, Robinson T E, Sue D Y, Wasserman K, Whipp B J. Optimizing the exercise protocol for cardiopulmonary assessment.  J Appl Physiol. 1983;  55 1558-1564
  • 5 Covey M K, Larson J L, Wirtz S. Reliability of submaximal exercise tests in patients with COPD.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999;  31 1257-1264
  • 6 Katch V L, Sady S S, Freedson P. Biological variability in maximum aerobic power.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1982;  14 21-25
  • 7 Kawakami Y, Nozaki D, Matsuo A, Fukunaga T. Reliability of measurement of oxygen uptake by a portable telemetric system.  Eur J Appl Physiol. 1992;  65 409-414
  • 8 Lothian F, Farrally M R, Mahoney C. Validity and reliability of the Cosmed K2 to measure oxygen uptake.  Can J Appl Physiol. 1993;  18 197-206
  • 9 Lucia A, Fleck S J, Gotshall R W, Kearney J T. Validity and reliability of the Cosmed K2 instrument.  Int J Sports Med. 1993;  14 380-386
  • 10 Wasserman K, Hansen J E, Sue D Y, Casaburi R, Whipp B J. Principles of exercise testing and interpretation. Baltimore; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 1999

 T. Meyer, M. D., Ph. D.

Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine
University of Saarland

66041 Saarbrücken
Germany


Phone: +49 (681) 302 3750

Fax: +49 (681) 302 4296

Email: t.meyer@rz.uni-sb.de