Normative Values and Reference Equations of a New Incremental Step Test for the Assessment of Exercise Capacity for Portuguese Adults

According to the official guidelines, a range of settings for cardiorespiratory rehabilitation, including the community- and home-based models, are considered to answer to the inadequate number of rehabilitation services, especially at hospitals, and, also, to respond to the patients' needs. For these settings outside the hospitals, new strategies for the assessment of exercise capacity and exercise training are essential. The modality of stepping can be a promising tool because it is inexpensive, portable, and reflects one of the main activities of daily living (stair climbing). The development of a new field test implies the establishment of normative values and reference equations generated from data of populations without disabilities to aim to characterize a defined population at a specific period of time, and evaluate and compare an individual's performance within a population.