Usefulness of the cardiopulmonary exercise test up to the anaerobic threshold for pati-ents aged ≥ 80 years with cardiovascular disease on cardiac rehabilitation.

This was a retrospective, single-centre record review, not a randomised trial, so it cannot show that CPET improves cardiac rehabilitation outcomes. The study included only patients who performed CPET, including 59 patients aged 80 and over, so it does not apply to older patients who could not perform the test or had low physical strength. Researchers did not analyse exercise responses beyond anaerobic threshold or peak interval measures because many older patients had a lower respiratory exchange ratio. Some cardiac and blood test data were missing because of the retrospective design. The under-70 group differed from older groups in sex, body mass index, smoking, underlying disease, medication, and treatment. Sex differences were not analysed because the sample size was small.

Do not conclude that cardiopulmonary exercise testing is useful for every patient aged 80 and over with cardiovascular disease. Only 59 patients aged 80 and over performed the test, and the study did not analyse responses beyond anaerobic threshold or measure rehabilitation outcomes.