Anaerobic Perdormance-Assessed by the Wingate Test--.in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients were studied to investigate the muscles' ability to produce and sustain high-intensity short-term exercise in this population. The patients, 17 males and 23 females, ranged from 10 to 39 years of age. Each patient performed a pulmonary function test followed by a Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). Based on a pulmonary function scoring system, patients were classified as having severe, moderate, or mild lung dysfunction, or normal lung function. Percent ideal body weight was used to categorize the patients as nourished or malnourished. Two indices of anaerobic performance (peak power and mean power) were determined from the WAnT and normalized by actual weight or by ideal weight. Patients in the severe and moderate groups had lower peak power (PP) and lower mean power (MP) than those in the mild and normal groups. Similarly, malnourished patients showed a lower PP and MP than did nourished patients. These results were similar regardless of whether PP or MP were normalized by weight or ideal weight. It is concluded that the anaerobic performance (muscle power and endurance) of C F patients, as assessed by the WAnT, was related to the degree of severity of the overall disease process.