PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Roseane Caldeira
AU  - Ana Maria Cartaxo
AU  - André Luis Albuquerque
AU  - Gustavo Prado
AU  - Dirce Zanetta
AU  - Mário Terra-Filho
AU  - Ubiratan de Paula Santos
TI  - Use of shuttle test on a group of healthy sugar cane workers, Sao Paulo, Brazil
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - p4191
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4191.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4191.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Introduction: The shutlle walking test (ST) is used to assess functional capacity in individuals with pulmonary diseases. Its use in healthy workers may be useful to evaluate exercise capacity. The practice of burning the sugar cane field in the night before harvest is common, and emits large amounts of pollutants.Aims: To evaluate the exercise capacity in a group of the burning sugar cane workers and a control group, during harvest and non-harvesting periods.Methods: 112 sugar cane workers and 107 controls, young man, non-smokers were submitted to ST 2 periods. At the beginning and end of the test, heart rate (HR), respiratory frequency, blood pressure, SpO2, and Borg score were measured and the walking distance recorded. Data were analyzed and compared using t-test or Mann-Whitney Test.Results: The mean age, the body mass index (BMI) kg/m2 and the HR were higher (p<0,001) in the control group: (29.1±6.4) vs (25±5.2) years; BMI: (29.3±6.4) vs (24.62±5.2); and HR: (98.4±16.9) vs (84.9±13) bpm, respectively. The median walking distance by the two groups at the end of the test was 1380 (IIQ:290) meters, 25% of the controls and 75% of cutters. In the period of harvest the sugar cane cutters presented significant increase in (p<0.05) diastolic blood pressure at the end of the exercise. No significant alterations in SpO2 between groups and periods were found.Conclusions: We demonstrated that sugarcane workers (SW) have better physical performance and exercise capacity than control subjects, although SW showed an elevation in diastolic blood pressure in ST, as observed in a previous study by our group.Support by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnolόgico (CNPq)/Brazil