Reliability and validity of three fitness tests for adults with mental handicaps

To examine the reliability and validity of cardiovascular fitness tests, 10 untrained controls and 18 adults with mental handicaps (experimental group) completed five trials on each of four exercise protocols. VO2 max results (M +/- SD) averaged across trials were as follows: Maximal treadmill test, 27.2 +/- 6.2 for the experimental group (E) and 45.5 +/- 8.1 for the control group (C); Maximal shuttle run test, 19.7 +/- 3.4 (E) and 42.1 +/- 6.2 (C); Submax step test, 33.0 +/- 7.6 (E) and 44.5 +/- 7.6 (C); and Submax cycle ergometer test, 36.4 +/- 13.1 (E) and 42.0 +/- 7.1 (C). The four modes had similar VO2 max values across trials with intraclass correlations ranging from r = .90 to .97. To examine validity, the predictive tests were compared with the treadmill VO2 max test. Both the step and shuttle run tests correlated significantly with the treadmill test. The duration of the shuttle run test was unrelated to the exercise intensity. The stepping test is recommended over both the maximum shuttle run test and the submaximum cycling test when measuring the aerobic fitness of adults with mental handicaps.