The Harvard step test, in scientific literature sometimes referred to as the Brouha Test, is a type of
cardiac stress test 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, ...
. 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
Lucien Antoine Maurice Brouha (26 October 1899 – 6 October 1968) was a Belgian rower who later became a notable exercise physiologist in the United States. He won three medals (one silver and two bronze) at European Rowing Championships bet ...
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'' (
) and ''total heartbeats counted'' (
). It is plotted into a simple fitness index equation:
:
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 high ...
in 1942.
Several modified versions of the original Harvard step test exist; examples include the
Tecumseh step test 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 ...
in Missoula.
See also
*
Multi-stage fitness
*
Cardiology
Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular he ...
*
Cardiology diagnostic tests and procedures
The diagnostic tests in cardiology are methods of identifying heart conditions associated with healthy vs. unhealthy, pathologic heart function.
Bedside
History
Obtaining a medical history is always the first "test", part of understanding the ...
*
Electrocardiogram
*
Physical fitness
Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physic ...
*
Work Capacity Test {{More citations needed, date=April 2022
The Work Capacity Test (WCT), known informally as the pack test, is a U.S. Forest Service physical test for wildland firefighters. The pack test is intentionally stressful as it tests the capacity of muscu ...
Footnotes
References
External links
*{{YouTube, mekPTS_LVv4, Harvard Step Test
Fitness tests
Medical tests