One‐legged bicycling as an assessment tool for patients with stroke

Objective –  To assess whether one‐legged bicycling correlates with muscle strength and thereby could work as an outcome measure for persons with stroke. Methods –  The study comprised 29 men (age 35–65) with a first occurrence of stroke 6–35 months earlier. Each leg was evaluated separately. A ramp protocol was used (10 W/min), with continuous recording of the ventilatory uptake ( V o 2 ) and heart rate. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to assess strength and endurance. Enzyme assays were performed on muscle biopsy samples. Results –  The peak isometric strength and isokinetic strength of the paretic leg correlated with the max. W on the bicycle. The oxidative enzyme citrate synthase correlated with the workload for both legs on the bicycle and lactate dehydrogenase correlated with peak isometric strength in both legs. Conclusions –  The one‐legged bicycle exercise test can be used to assess endurance in persons with a previous stroke as it correlates with dynamometer testing and muscle biopsies.