Table 1

Descriptive statistics; heart transplant recipients and healthy controls

Variables*HTx (n=14)Healthy controls (n=5)P value
Sex (% men)86801.000
Age (years)53 (13)52 (7)0.764
In work (% yes)711000.530
Time after HTx (years)3 (2)
Smoking (% never smoked)791000.530
Exercise variables
Vo2peak (mL/kg/min)31.0 (6.8)40.2 (2.7)0.001
% of estimated Vo2 85 (17)111 (15)0.014
Peak heart rate153 (17)182 (14)0.004
RER1.16 (0.10, 1.22)1.23 (1.20, 1.24)0.087
VE/VCo2slope 24 (12)25 (3)0.791
Peak respiration rate46 (9)49 (8)0.567
O2pulse 15.7 (3.1)17.9 (2.3)0.131
Peak systolic BP211 (25)215 (20)0.744
Peak diastolic BP92 (30)90 (9)0.824
Self-reported physical activity
Exercise frequency (%)
≤once weekly/2–3 weekly/approximately daily
7/57/3620/80/00.263
Exercise duration (%)
<30 min/>30 min
14/8625/751.000
Exercise intensity (%)
Low intensity/moderate intensity/maximum intensity
21/72/70/75/250.416
Meeting the recommendations for daily activity† (% yes)86600.272
Inactivity daily (hours)6 (3)8 (5)0.331
  • *Variables are presented as mean (SD) or median (1st quartile, 3rd quartile).

  • †≥30 min.

  • BP, blood pressure; HTx, heart transplant recipients; RER, respiratory equivalent rate; VE, ventilation.