Clinical Logistics in Treadmill Exercise Stress Testing

Abstract

The predictability as to a positive or negative outcome of treadmill exercise stress testing in 341 consecutively studied patients referred for diagnostic purposes is presented. A clinical decision as to the result was derived by asking 2 simple questions and reviewing the pretest ECG. Additional clinical logistics included the type of physician ordering the study, smoking history, symptoms, and basic patient history. The predictable accuracy was 77.7% for the total patient group and 81.5% when the questionable cases (reflecting a neutral or ambivalent cardi ologist's opinion) were eliminated.