摘要：Maximal exercise testing with respiratory gas analysis is the reference technique for determining exercise capacity, allowing for measurement of VO2max, ventilatory threshold (VT) and respiratory compensation threshold (RCT). Such testing is often impractical because of the cost and technological sophistication required for respiratory gas analyses. Within the past decade, the Talk Test (TT) has been shown to be a useful surrogate of gas exchange thresholds in a variety of populations (Dehart-Beverley et al., 2000; Foster et al., 2008; Recalde et al., 2002; Voelker et al., 2002). Cannon et al., 2004 demonstrated that when patients who subsequently developed exertional ischemia were able to speak comfortably, they are unlikely to have ECG evidence of myocardial ischemia. This suggests the potential of the TT to minimize the risk of catastrophic events during exercise training. Further, the TT has been shown to be useful for 'translating' incremental exercise test results into absolute training intensities in a variety of populations including cardiac patients, sedentary individuals and well-trained individuals (Brawner et al., 2006; Foster et al., 2009). These data suggest that the TT is a safe, valid, and simple way of determining exercise intensity in populations where the use of maximal exercise testing may be impractical or where gas exchange technology is unavailable. Despite the strength of data supporting its use, there are no data on the reproducibility of the TT. The purpose of the present study was to determine the reproducibility of the TT compared to respiratory gas exchange measurements.
