Functional capacity in heart failure. Comparison of methods for assessment and their relation to other indexes of heart failure. The V-HeFT VA Cooperative Studies Group.

Abstract

Clinical scales based on physician and patient assessment of symptoms were statistically associated with exercise capacity but do not accurately predict individual exercise performance. The strong association of heart rate response to exercise performance suggests that the variability of the chronotropic response to exercise contributes to differences in exercise capacity among patients with a similar degree of LV dysfunction.