Certified Cardiovascular Technician Practice Exam

Which of the following would not typically be a reason for monitoring a Holter test?

1. Anticipating implications for intervention

2. Checking medication adherence

3. Determining lifestyle factors

4. Assessing exercise capacity

The correct answer is: Assessing exercise capacity

Monitoring a Holter test is primarily designed to evaluate a patient’s heart rhythm over a specific period, typically 24 to 48 hours. This monitoring helps in identifying arrhythmias, correlating them with symptoms, and assessing the effectiveness of medications or other interventions. Assessing exercise capacity is generally not a direct focus of Holter monitoring. Holter tests are passive recordings and do not provide actual data on how a patient performs during physical activity. Instead, they capture heart rhythm and any abnormalities that may occur during the normal activities of daily living, including rest and incidental exercise, but they do not measure exercise performance or capacity in a controlled environment. Assessments of exercise capacity are typically done with specific exercise testing protocols, such as treadmill tests, which measure cardiovascular responses to physical stress. In contrast, the other options—anticipating implications for intervention, checking medication adherence, and determining lifestyle factors—are all relevant reasons for monitoring through a Holter test. They focus on understanding how the heart responds to various factors over an extended period, which is precisely what a Holter monitor is designed to evaluate.