Reference values for the physical work capacity on a bicycle ergometer for women between 20 and 80 years of age

A sample of women (n=87) uniformly distributed in age (20–80 years) was randomly selected from the municipal population register and conventional clinical exercise tests were performed on a bicycle. The load started at 30 W and increased (5 W/30 s) until exhaustion. Care was taken to perform a maximum exercise test. The women were required to be cardiovascularly healthy and not on regular medication to be included in the study. The maximum work load was found to be dependent on age and height. The following equation described the maximum load. Max load (W)=(137·7 * Height (m) – 23·1)/(1 + exp (0·064 * (Age (years) – 75·9))). The upper and lower limits of the reference interval were 120 and 80% of the predicted load, respectively. The upper and lower limits for maximum heart rate were 110 and 90% of the maximum heart rate given by 190·2/(1 + exp (0·0453 * (Age – 107·5))). The reference value for maximum systolic blood pressure was taken as the interval between the two lines 153·3 + 0·281 * Age and 172·0 + 1·13 * Age. The reference values presented for work capacity are higher than those normally used in Sweden.