Heart & Vascular Care

Stress Testing

Doctors use an exercise stress test as a general screening tool to test exercise's effect on the heart. The test gives a general sense of the heart's health by measuring the heart's electrical activity while the patient walks on a treadmill or pedals a stationary bicycle. The result shows the heart's reaction to the body's increased demand for oxygen.  

A stress test can determine causes of chest pain, the exercise capacity of the heart, appropriate exercise levels in those initiating an exercise program, and can also identify rhythm disturbances during exercise. Physicians may also request this test for other reasons.