Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026
Repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined with Action Observation Training in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy
Published on: August 9, 2024
Reliability of a shuttle run test for children with cerebral palsy who are classified at Gross Motor Function
Olaf Verschuren1, Liesbeth Bosma, Tim Takken
1Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience and Center of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht and Rehabilitation Center De Hoogstraat, Utrecht, the Netherlands. o.verschuren@dehoogstraat.nl
Abstract:
For children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) classified as Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level III there is no running-based field test available to assess their cardiorespiratory fitness. The current study investigated whether a shuttle run test can be reliably (test-retest) performed in a group of children with spastic diplegia (eight male, five female) classified as GMFCS level III. Thirteen children (mean age 12 y, SD 3 y) had to walk/run in squares of 7.5m delimited by cones. The auditory signals from the GMFCS II compact disc (as used in a previous reliability and validation study) were used during the test, resulting in a starting speed of 1.5 km/hour with a graded increase in speed of 0.19 km/hour per minute (shuttle). Intraclass correlation coefficients (two-way mixed) for achieved shuttles were 0.98. The standard error of measurement was 0.48 levels and the smallest detectable change was 1.32 shuttles. The results are the first indication that the shuttle run test protocol could be reliably performed in this population.