Association between performance on the Glittre ADL-test and the functional capacity of patients with HF: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: The Weber classification based on peak VO₂ is a well-established method for categorizing patients with heart failure (HF) regarding severity. However, other submaximal tests such as the Glittre ADL-Test have been gaining prominence in practice due to a coherent and more comprehensive correlation with limitations for performing activities of daily living in patients with heart failure.

Objective: To investigate the correlation between the time required to perform the Glittre ADL-Test and the peak VO₂ in patients with HF.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted with 40 adult individuals (21 to 65 years) diagnosed with HF of all etiologies, with LVEF<50% and NYHA II and III.

Results: The average time for performing the Glittre ADL-Test was 284.9 seconds, and a significant difference was found between Weber classification classes A and C (p = .01). Significant correlations with peak VO₂ were also found (r = −0.424 – p < .01). Thirty (30) patients performed a second test, and the ICC found in the reproducibility analysis was 0.75 (95% CI 0.14–0.91) and p < .01.

Conclusion: The Glittre ADL-Test was able to reflect the functional performance of individuals with HF, suggesting that it represents an evaluation tool which can be safely used in clinical practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Heart failure
• exercise testing
• Glittre ADL-Test

Acknowledgments

To the PROCAPE team, especially Dr. Wilson Filho, for believing in and supporting this study. To Anderson Santos Fraga for the graphic support in this article. This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) - Universal-CNPQ 432865/2016-0, Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (FACEPE) under Grant APQ 0154-4.08/15.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (FACEPE) [APQ 0154-4.08/15]; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) - Universal-CNPQ [432865/2016-0].