Improved Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Aerobic Exercise Training in Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Objective: To examine cardiorespiratory fitness in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), before and following participation in a supervised 12-week aerobic exercise training program.

Methods: Ten subjects with nonpenetrating TBI (TBI severity: mild, 50%; moderate, 40%; severe, 10%; time since injury [mean ± SD]: 6.6 ± 6.8 years) performed exercise training on a treadmill 3 times a week for 30 minutes at vigorous intensity (70%-80% of heart rate reserve). All subjects completed a cardiopulmonary exercise test, with pulmonary gas exchange measured and a questionnaire related to fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale) at baseline and following exercise training.

Results: After training, increases (P < .01) in peak oxygen consumption ((Equation is included in full-text article.); +3.1 ± 2.4 mL/min/kg), time to volitional fatigue (+1.4 ± 0.8 minutes), and peak work rate (+59 ± 43 W) were observed. At the anaerobic threshold, (Equation is included in full-text article.)(+3.6 ± 2.1 mL/kg/min), treadmill time (+1.8 ± 1.1 minutes), and work rate (+37 ± 39 W) were higher (P < .01) following exercise training. Subjects also reported significantly lower (P < .05) Fatigue Severity Scale composite scores (-0.9 ± 1.3) following exercise training.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that individuals with TBI may benefit from participation in vigorous aerobic exercise training with improved cardiorespiratory fitness and diminished fatigue.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest:

All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1

Results of the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) for a representative subject. Data points are shown pre (○) and post (●) aerobic exercise training. The main findings were that the post test showed greater peak VO2, higher peak work rate (WR), extended time to volitional exhaustion, increased VO2 at the anaerobic threshold (AT), and greater WR and time at AT compared to the pre test.

Figure 2

The FSS composite score for each subject at pre- and post-aerobic exercise training (∆) with average scores shown (mean ± SD; ■). * Significantly (p

Figure 3

Median scores to the 9 measurement items on the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) Questionnaire. Scores ≥ 4 indicates “Severe fatigue” and is demarcated as a dashed line. Mean (± SD) at pre- and post-aerobic exercise training is shown with p-values.