Cardiopulmonary exercise parameters
| Fixed speed | Modified speed | P value | |
| Exercise time, mean (SD), s | 553.1 (125.8) | 588.7 (132.8) | 0.099 |
| Maximum workload, median (IQR), (W/kg) | 1.1 (0.9–1.5) | 1.2 (0.9–1.7) | 0.028 |
| VO2 peak, mean (SD), mL/kg/min | 11.1 (2.4) | 12.8 (2.8) | <0.001 |
| Exceeding the anaerobic threshold, n (%) | 18 (81.8) | 16 (72.7) | 0.617 |
| Respiratory exchange ratio peak, median (IQR) | 1.2 (1.1–1.3) | 1.1 (1–1.3) | 0.958 |
| VE/VCO2 slope, mean (SD) | 29.6 (5.7) | 30.2 (6.2) | 0.527 |
| Borg scale*, mean (SD) | 15.2 (1.5) | 13.5 (1.2) | 0.005 |
| Reason for termination | |||
| Leg-muscle fatigue and/or discomfort, n (%) | 16 (72.7) | 16 (72.7) | 1 |
| Fatigue, n (%) | 8 (36.4) | 8 (36.4) | 0.479 |
| Dyspnoea, n (%) | 3 (13.6) | 3 (13.6) | 0.617 |
| Chest pain, n (%) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | NA |
Continuous variables are represented as mean (SD) and median (IQR); categorical variables are presented as numbers (%); p values are from paired samples t-test (normal distribution), Wilcoxon signed-rank test (non-normal distribution) and McNemar test (paired nominal data).
*The original Borg scale.
IQR, interquartile range ; SD, standard deviation; VCO2, carbon dioxide output; VE, ventilation.