Characteristics of the included publications (total, n=86)
| Characteristic | Number of publications, n (%) |
|---|---|
| Primary literature | 57 (66) |
| Publication type | |
| Research article | 47 (54) |
| Conference abstract | 9 (10) |
| Research letter | 1 (1) |
| Study design | |
| Prospective | 42 (48) |
| Retrospective | 15 (17) |
| Method of conducting CPET | |
| Cycle ergometer | 37 (43) |
| Treadmill | 15 (17) |
| Not mentioned | 5 (6) |
| Study population# | |
| Pulmonary disorder | 40 |
| Healthy subjects | 9 |
| Cardiac disorder | 4 |
| Other | 11 |
| Population size (range) | 8–304 |
| Secondary literature | 29 (33) |
| Publication type | |
| Review article | 21 (24) |
| Statement | 5 (6) |
| Textbook | 2 (2) |
| Editorial | 1 (1) |
CPET: cardiopulmonary exercise testing. #: When a publication studied multiple populations, each study population was counted separately.