The association of pre-operative home accelerometry with cardiopulmonary exercise variables

Abstract

We investigated the association of pre-operative activity, reported by the Duke Activity Score Index, Short Form-12 and measured by an accelerometer worn at home, with five cardiopulmonary exercise variables: peak power; peak oxygen consumption; anaerobic threshold; and ventilatory equivalents for oxygen and carbon dioxide. Fifty patients scheduled for major surgery underwent a standard pre-operative cardiopulmonary exercise test and wore a chest-mounted triaxial accelerometer for a mean (SD) duration of 3.2 (0.4) days. The Duke Activity Score Index and six accelerometer variables were significantly correlated with all five cardiopulmonary exercise variables, Pearson correlation coefficients 0.5–0.7, p = 0.02 to p < 0.001. Our results can guide future studies that measure physical activity for pre-operative assessment and interventions.