CPXI Abstract submission

All attendees and faculty members are invited to present their current research using poster or oral presentations.

Please send your abstracts in advance to h.hulzebos@umcutrecht.nl

Deadline abstract submission: June 1st 2022

Acceptance notification: July 1st 2022

There will be a CPXI ‘Young’ Investigator award for the best oral and poster presentation.

Abstracts must conform to the following guidelines. Abstracts that are not in this format will not be reviewed by the Scientific Committee.

• Abstracts must not exceed 350 words
• Abstracts must have the following 4 sections: Background, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
• Abstracts must be in 12 point Arial font (In MS Word format).

Include a cover sheet that includes the primary author’s complete address, telephone number, and email address. Also, please indicate your preference for presentation: Oral or Poster and whether you wish to be considered for CPXI ‘Young’ Investigator award.

The title and author’s names, as well as institution and location must be on the top of the abstract as follows:

Reliability and Validity of the Steep Ramp Test in Children and Adolescents

B.C. Bongers, S.I. de Vries, P.J.M. Helders, T. Takken

Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht

Background: The steep ramp test (SRT) is a feasible, supramaximal exercise test which does not require the use of respiratory gas analysis. Hence, it might contribute to an increase of the utilization of exercise testing in clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to examine reliability and validity of the SRT in healthy children and adolescents. Methods: The total study population (n=75) was randomly divided in a reliability group (n=37, 17 boys; 20 girls, mean±SD age: 13.86±3.22 years) and a validity group (n=38, 17 boys; 21 girls, age:  13.85±3.20  years). Within two weeks, the reliability group performed two SRTs (work rate increments of 10, 15, or 20 W·10 s-1, depending on height), whereas the validity group performed one SRT and one regular cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET; work rate increments of 10, 15, or 20 W∙min- 1, depending on height) with respiratory gas analysis within two weeks. Peak work rate (WR_peak) was the main outcome of the SRT. Peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak) was the main outcome of the CPET. Data were analyzed using the intra class correlation coefficient (ICC), a Bland-Altman plot, linear regression analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: Reliability statistics for the SRT showed an ICC of 0.986 for WR_peak. Moreover, WR_peak values attained at the two SRTs correlated highly with each other (r=0.987; P<0.001). The average difference between the two SRTs was -6.4 W, with limits of agreement between +24.5 W and -37.5 W. A high correlation between the WR_peak achieved at the SRT and the VO_2peak attained during the CPET was found (r=0.958; P<0.001). Linear regression analysis provided the following relation between the WR_peak attained at the SRT and the VO_2peak achieved during the CPET: VO_2peak (mL∙min-1) = (8.262∙WRpeak) + 177.096 (r²=0.917, SEE=237.4). Discussion: The results suggest that the SRT is a reliable and valid exercise test which can predict VO_2peak in healthy children and adolescents.