Gulati et al.
About this reference
Gulati and colleagues developed a women-specific formula for predicting maximum heart rate (206 - 0.88 x age), based on a cohort of 5,437 asymptomatic women who underwent exercise stress testing. This formula was proposed because standard predictions (including Tanaka) were derived predominantly from male subjects and may overestimate max heart rate in women. The study demonstrated that using the women-specific formula improved the prognostic value of exercise testing in female patients.
Known limitations
- Derived from a single-centre US population of women referred for clinical testing
- Applicable to women only — not intended as a general formula
- Participants were asymptomatic but still clinically referred, which may introduce selection bias