Aerobic fitness assessment in patients with low back pain (LBP) may help clinicians to plan how to progress the aerobic training. This was a pilot study designed to evaluate the performance of people with LBP on two different aerobic fitness tests performed on a treadmill and to compare the measure of aerobic fitness between people with LBP and healthy individuals. Ten people with LBP and 10 healthy individuals underwent two aerobic fitness protocols, the modified Bruce and maximum incremental test protocols, performed on a treadmill. Data collected during the protocols were: oxygen consumption, heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration, respiratory quotient, rating of perceived exertion response, and pain intensity. Independent t-test and two-way analysis of variance were used respectively to assess difference between groups characteristics and physiological responses to the protocols. Our results showed that both groups were similar with regards to age (P = 0.839) or HRrest (P = 0.730) but the LBP group showed higher BMI compared to the healthy group (P = 0.031). Regarding the performance of both groups on the aerobic fitness tests, the only significant difference was reported for respiratory quotient which showed a main effect of test (P = 0.015) with higher values favoring the modified Bruce over the incremental test. Our study showed that most people with LBP are able to perform and tolerate both aerobic fitness tests but no significant differences between people with LBP and healthy individuals on both protocols were reported.
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