NPTE Plan

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Systems: practice questions

2 original questions · 2 editor-approved · every choice explained.

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Blueprint-mapped questions with full rationales for every choice.

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Cardiovascular and Pulmonary SystemsDifficulty 3/5

During moderate-intensity exercise a patient's systolic blood pressure falls from 128 to 112 mmHg while workload increases. What should the therapist do?

  1. AIncrease the workload to determine whether the pressure recovers
  2. BSwitch to upper-extremity exercise to reduce the cardiac demand
  3. CContinue the activity because the patient denies any symptoms
  4. DStop the activity, monitor the patient and report the response
Show answer and rationale

Correct: D. A fall in systolic pressure of 10 mmHg or more with increasing workload is a recognised criterion for terminating exercise, whether or not the patient reports symptoms. It may indicate inadequate cardiac output.

  • C — Absence of symptoms does not override an objective termination criterion.
  • A — Increasing demand in the face of a failing pressure response is unsafe.
  • B — Changing modality maintains cardiac demand rather than removing it.
Cardiovascular and Pulmonary SystemsDifficulty 2/5

A patient takes a beta blocker. Which method of prescribing exercise intensity is most appropriate?

  1. ARating of perceived exertion, because heart-rate response is blunted
  2. BKarvonen formula using the measured resting heart rate
  3. CA fixed target of 120 beats per minute for all sessions
  4. DAge-predicted maximum heart rate with a 70 percent target
Show answer and rationale

Correct: A. Beta blockade blunts the heart-rate response, so any heart-rate-based target misrepresents intensity. Rating of perceived exertion, or a symptom-limited approach, reflects actual effort.

  • D — Age-predicted maxima assume a normal chronotropic response.
  • B — Karvonen is still heart-rate based and remains invalid under beta blockade.
  • C — A fixed rate ignores the individual response entirely.

Primary references

  1. NPTE-PT Test Content Outline, effective January 2024 (v1.1) — Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) · primary · retrieved 2026-09-22, verified 2026-09-22