Some cardiologists rely on the "stairs test" to assess the heart health of their patients. It's simple and free unlike other heavier and often expensive methods, but is it really effective? New research confirms this.
Advanced age, lifestyle, diabetes, bad cholesterol or family history, many factors can affect the proper functioning of the heart. Several examinations then make it possible to isolate these heart problems:MRI, angiography, Doppler ultrasound, electrocardiogram or even chest X-ray. However, there is another less invasive and easier way to assess your heart health:the staircase test .
Going up a flight of stairs is indeed very hard on the heart. This is why some cardiologists have relied on this test for decades. A new study by researchers from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) once again confirms the effectiveness of the method.
For this work, the researchers recruited 165 volunteers with coronary artery disease that causes chest pain or shortness of breath during strenuous exercise. Initially, these participants were asked to walk and then run faster and faster on a treadmill until exhaustion.
This first test allowed the researchers to measure the intensity of physical activity and the energy expenditure of each participant in metabolic equivalents (Metabolic Equivalent of Task or MET). This method is often used to determine the risk of a cardiac event, such as a stroke within the next ten years.
After a brief rest, the participants were then asked to hastily and without stopping climb four flights of stairs involving a total of about sixty steps. The time it took each patient to complete the exercise was compared to their MET.
The metabolic equivalence scale ranges from 0.9 METs (during sleep) to 18 METs (fast running at 17.5 km/h). As you have understood, the higher the intensity of the activity, the higher the number of METs.
In this test, those who could climb stairs in less than 45 seconds had METs between 9 and 10. Studies have already shown that such a score during exercise was linked to a low mortality rate (less than 1% per year, i.e. 10% in 10 years). In contrast, those who took more than a minute to climb the stairs had a MET of less than 8, which is associated with a mortality rate of 2% to 4% per year, or 30% in 10 years. .
The researchers also scanned the patients' hearts while they performed the treadmill test. By comparing these images to the results of the walk test, they then found that 58% of patients who took more than a minute to climb the stairs had abnormal heart function compared to only 32% for those who completed the stairs less. one minute.
The fact that a simple everyday activity like climbing stairs can be so closely related to results in lab tests is good news. In effect, this means that we could use this test to assess our own cardiac , then consult a cardiologist in case of poor results.
“The idea was to find a simple and inexpensive way to assess heart health. The stairs test is an easy way to do this “, confirms the author of the study, Dr. Jesús Peteiro, cardiologist at the University Hospital of A Coruña. "If it takes you more than a minute to climb four flights of stairs, then your health is not optimal consulting a doctor would be a good idea “.
