Cardiopulmonary responses during arm work on land and in a water environment of nonambulatory, spinal cord impaired individuals

Abstract

Six handicapped and six nonhandicapped subjects were given exercise tolerance tests on land and in a water environment. The subjects exercised with their arms only and had their cardiopulmonary performance evaluated. Based upon the results observed in this study, it appears that nonambulatory individuals with low fitness levels were able to experience greater cardiopulmonary work outputs when exercising in a water environment. The less severely handicapped individuals displayed similar patterns to those observed in the NH subjects (i.e., no observable pattern) and thus, may not receive as great a benefit as the more severely handicapped. The water environment appears to improve venous return, cardiac output and lung ventilation, which assists the H subjects to be more efficient during exercise. © 1985 International Medical Society of Paraplegia.