Relationship Between Heart Rate and Perceived Exertion in Neuromuscular Diseases: How do Laboratory-Based Exercise Testing Results Translate to Home-Based Aerobic Training Sessions?
Eric L Voorn, Sander Oorschot, Tim Veneman and 2 others
PMID 37115155WHAT IT FOUND
Heart rate predicts how hard neuromuscular patients feel they are working during lab tests, but not during home training.
Most patients rated their effort differently at the same heart rate in the two settings. Use both heart rate and perceived exertion together to guide home exercise.
Key findings
01During home training, most participants reported a different level of perceived exertion for the same heart rate compared to the lab test, with no consistent pattern across the group.
02The relationship between heart rate and perceived exertion was strong for all participants during the lab test, but weaker during home training, with only 57% showing a strong correlation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (30 participants) and consisted mainly of individuals with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease who were mildly affected, limiting generalizability to more severely affected patients or other neuromuscular conditions. The study only examined cycling; results may not apply to other exercise modes like arm ergometry or wheelchair propulsion. Data were missing for some training sessions due to technical issues with the app used to record heart rate and perceived exertion. The analysis focused only on the first two weeks of training, so it is unknown if the relationship between heart rate and perceived exertion stabilizes or changes over a longer period.
Declared interests
The study was part of the I'M FINE randomized controlled trial. The authors did not report specific funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided text, but the study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Amsterdam UMC.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a patient's perceived exertion during home training will match their heart rate in the same way it did during the lab test. The study found no consistent pattern; some patients felt easier, some felt harder, and some felt the same at identical heart rates. Relying on one measure without the other risks under- or over-training.