We investigated whether the result of early exercise testing yields prognostic information in addition to that afforded by a clinical risk score in patients who present with chest pain in the emergency department. The study group consisted of 340 patients without preexisting evidence of myocardial ischemia. A clinical risk score was calculated. Primary (mortality or myocardial infarction) and secondary (mortality, myocardial infarction, or rehospitalization due to unstable angina) end points at 1 year were defined. Patients with a positive exercise test result underwent invasive management. Frequencies of primary (7.4% vs 2.1%, p = 0.06) and secondary (9.3% vs 2.8%, p = 0.04) end points and risk score (1.6 +/- 1.0 vs 1.0 +/- 0.9 points, p = 0.0001) were higher in patients with a positive exercise test result. However, in multivariate analysis, clinical risk score was the only independent predictor for the primary (hazard ratio 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 3.2, p = 0.004) and secondary (hazard ratio 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 2.9, p = 0.003) end points. In conclusion, if a policy of invasive management is implemented for patients with positive exercise test results, the clinical risk score constitutes the main prognostic predictor of 1-year outcome.