The Effects of Karvonen Exercise Prescription in Acute Coronary Artery Disease Patients Reaching Age-Predicted Maximal Heart Rates with Exercise Stress Test

The purpose of this study was to survey the effects of Karvonen exercise prescription in coronary artery disease patients reaching age-predicted maximal heart rates with the exercise stress test on hemodynamic responses and cardiorespiratory fitness. The subject group was comprised of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients, who were divided into the maximal heart rate (MHR) group that included those who completed the test with their heart rates reaching the number of 220-age and the maximal dyspnea (MD) group that included those who could not continue the test due to respiratory difficulty and were asked to stop the test. Both groups had the exercise stress test before and after the experiment. In the exercise stress test before the experiment, the exercise prescription intensity of Karvonen was set at the target heart rates of 50~85% with a six-week exercise monitoring arrangement. As a result, there were no interactive effects in rest heart rate (RHR) according to time and group, but interactive effects were observed in maximal heart rate (MHR) (P=0.000). Both rest systolic blood pressure (RSBP) and rest diastolic blood pressure (RDBP) had no interactive effects according to time and group. Maximal systolic blood pressure (MSBP) showed significant interactive effects according to time and group (P=0.017). Maximal diastolic blood pressure (MDBP) showed no interactive effects according to time and group, while maximal rate pressure product (MRPP) showed significant interactive effects according to time and group (P=0.003). Maximal time (MT) had no interactive effects according to time and group. $VO_{2max}$ and maximal metabolic equivalent (MMET) showed significant interactive effects according to time and group (P=0.000, P=0.002, respectively), whereas maximal respiratory exchange ratio (MRER) and maximal rating of perceived exertion (MRPE) showed no interactive effects according to time and group. The exercise test that was discontinued as the subjects reached the predicted maximal heart rates considering age did not reach the maximal exercise intensity and accordingly showed low exercise effects when applied to Karvonen exercise prescription intensity. That is, the test should keep going by monitoring cardiac events, MRER and MRPE until the heart rates exceed the predicted MHR by up to 10~12 even after the subject reaches the predicted MHR considering age in the exercise stress test.