{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T22:01:40Z","timestamp":1770501700319,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]],"date-time":"2022-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Step tests are important in community- and home-based rehabilitation programs to assess patients\u2019 exercise capacity. A new incremental step test was developed for this purpose, but its clinical interpretability is currently limited. This study aimed to establish a reference equation for this new incremental step test (IST) for the Portuguese adult population. A cross-sectional study was conducted on people without disabilities. Sociodemographic (age and sex), anthropometric (weight, height, and body mass index), smoking status, and physical activity (using the brief physical activity assessment tool) data were collected. Participants performed two repetitions of the IST and the best test was used to establish the reference equation with a forward stepwise multiple regression. An analysis comparing the results from the reference equation with the actual values was conducted with the Wilcoxon test. A total of 155 adult volunteers were recruited (60.6% female, 47.8 \u00b1 19.7 years), and the reference equation was as follows: steps in IST = 475.52 \u2212 (4.68 \u00d7 age years) + (30.5 \u00d7 sex), where male = 1 and female = 0, and r2 = 60%. No significant differences were observed between the values performed and those obtained by the equation (p = 0.984). The established equation demonstrated that age and sex were the determinant variables for the variability of the results.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm12010271","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,30]],"date-time":"2022-12-30T03:18:18Z","timestamp":1672370298000},"page":"271","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Reference Equation of a New Incremental Step Test to Assess Exercise Capacity in the Portuguese Adult Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4422-8440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui","family":"Vilarinho","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"FP-I3ID, Escola Superior de Sa\u00fade-Fernando Pessoa, 4200-253 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Healthcare Department, Nippon Gases Portugal, 4470-177 Maia, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Toledo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"F\u00e1bio","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Leila","family":"Tomaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Luana","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"T\u00e2nia","family":"Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Cristina","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"C\u00e1tia","family":"Caneiras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Healthcare Department, Nippon Gases Portugal, 4470-177 Maia, Portugal"},{"name":"Microbiology Research Laboratory on Environmental Health (EnviHealthMicroLab), Institute of Environmental Health (ISAMB), Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Multidisciplinary Research Center of Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Egas Moniz School of Health and Science, 2829-511 Almada, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2777-8050","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio Mesquita","family":"Montes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR), School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, Santa Maria Health School, 4049-024 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"ACSM (2013). 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