The Harvard step test, in scientific literature sometimes referred to as the Brouha Test, is a type of

cardiac stress test A cardiac stress test (also referred to as a cardiac diagnostic test, cardiopulmonary exercise test, or abbreviated CPX test) is a cardiological test that measures the heart's ability to respond to external stress in a controlled clinical environ ...

for detecting and diagnosing

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

. It is also a good measurement of fitness and a person's ability to recover after a strenuous exercise by checking the recovery rate. The test was developed by Lucien Brouha and his associates in 1942.

Procedure

The test subject repeatedly steps onto and off of a platform in a cycle of two seconds. The height of the platform is for men and for women. The rate of 30 steps per minute must be sustained for five minutes or until exhaustion. To ensure the right speed, a metronome is used. Exhaustion is the point at which the subject cannot maintain the stepping rate for 15 seconds. The subject immediately sits down on completion of the test, and the heartbeats are counted for 1 to 1.5, 2 to 2.5, and 3 to 3.5 minutes. The results are written down as ''time until exhaustion in seconds'' (

t_e

) and ''total heartbeats counted'' (

h_b

). It is plotted into a simple fitness index equation: :

\frac

The outcome of the equation is rated as follows:

Modified versions

The test was developed at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1942. Several modified versions of the original Harvard step test exist; examples include the

Tecumseh step test The Tecumseh step test is an exercise test that researchers use to determine a subject's cardiovascular fitness level. The Tecumseh step test is a modified version of the Harvard Step Test developed by Professor Henry J. Montoye. The main differe ...

and the Kasch step test. Another modified version, the Sharkey step test, was developed in the 1970s for use by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

at the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

Procedure

Modified versions

See also

Footnotes

References

External links