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Estimated VO₂, METs and functional capacity

Estimates maximal oxygen uptake and METs from Bruce time and compares age, sex and activity-level prediction.

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Check the population, units and version. The result shows the formula or classification; it does not make an automatic treatment decision.

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Method · Limits of application

Foster 1984 Bruce polynomial; Bruce 1973 VO₂ by age/activity; MET=VO₂/3.5; FAI

The time used to estimate VO₂ must come from the corresponding Bruce treadmill protocol, not the duration of any exercise. The equation gives a prediction, not oxygen consumption measured by gas analysis. MET uses the convention of 3.5 mL/kg/min; it does not measure the person’s resting metabolism. Predicted-capacity references and prognostic associations are population-specific: Myers 2002 studied men referred for clinical testing. Do not automatically extrapolate to children, other protocols or an individual risk of death.

Conditions of use

Check the population, units, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and version in the original source. A result alone does not establish a diagnosis, discharge decision or prescription.

Documented parameters

Exercise duration (Bruce) · min
Age · years
Sex
Physically active?

2/2 reference cases checked. Numerical tests are not clinical validation.

Sources and documentation

Documented formula

Transcribed from the source or a recorded revision; this is not a clinical recommendation.

VO₂ (Foster, Bruce): 14.8 − 1.379 × t + 0.451 × t² − 0.012 × t³ (mL/kg/min; t in minutes)
METs = VO₂ ÷ 3.5
Predicted VO₂ (Bruce): sedentary men 57.8 − 0.445 × age; active men 69.7 − 0.612 × age; sedentary women 42.3 − 0.356 × age; active women 42.9 − 0.312 × age
Functional impairment (FAI) = (Predicted VO₂ − observed) ÷ Predicted VO₂ × 100

References

Identifier: vo2-e-mets

Original clinical content: Brazilian Portuguese.

Method version

Foster 1984 Bruce polynomial; Bruce 1973 VO₂ by age/activity; MET=VO₂/3.5; FAI

vo2-e-mets@native-2026-10-03+928bb8397d84

Source for the active edition

The bibliographic edition identifies the source. By itself, it proves neither full conformity of the formula nor clinical approval.

Synthetic cases checked (2)

Synthetic cases for checking the implementation, with no patient data.

Case 1

reference-001

Inputs

Exercise duration (Bruce): 9 min
Age: 50 years
Sex: Male
Physically active?: No

{
  "tempo": 9,
  "idade": 50,
  "sexo": "M",
  "ativo": "0"
}

Expected result

{
  "vo2": 30.17,
  "mets": 8.62
}

Actual result

{
  "vo2": 30.172000000000004,
  "mets": 8.620571428571429,
  "pred": 35.55,
  "fai": 15.127988748241894
}

Case 2

reference-002

Inputs

Exercise duration (Bruce): 6 min
Age: 50 years
Sex: Male
Physically active?: No

{
  "tempo": 6,
  "idade": 50,
  "sexo": "M",
  "ativo": "0"
}

Expected result

{
  "vo2": 20.17,
  "mets": 5.763
}

Actual result

{
  "vo2": 20.17,
  "mets": 5.762857142857143,
  "pred": 35.55,
  "fai": 43.263009845288316
}

Code and reproducibility

This tool’s code on GitHub

Download code and tests

Sources, version and reproduction instructions

The code tests are technical checks. Clinical approval and professional translation review are recorded separately.

Relationship with cancer research

General context — relationship to be defined

A resource for general clinical contexts. This edition does not assign a specific oncological relationship; selecting it for a study requires a justified question, population and purpose.