Validity of 20 meter multi-stage shuttle run test for estimation of maximum oxygen uptake in male university students

Direct estimation of cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of VO2max is restricted within well equipped laboratory. Eighty four (84) sedentary male university students (Age 22.77 +/- 1.73 years, Body height 167.73 +/- 4.07 cm and Body mass 58.25 +/- 4.02 kg) of same socio-economic background were recruited from students of University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India to validate the applicability of 20 meter shuttle run test (SRT) for indirect estimation of VO2max in young male sedentary university students of Kolkata, India. They were further asigned to "study group" (N = 54) on which the existing experimental protocol of SRT was tested and "confirmatory group" (N = 30) on which the modified equations were validated. VO2max of each participant was determined by direct procedure and indirect SRT method with a gap of four days in between the tests. The difference between the mean values of directly measured VO2max and indirectly predicted VO2max (PVO2max) in the "study group" was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Limit of agreement analysis revealed poor confidence level for application of current method of SRT in the studied population. VO2max was significantly correlated with age (r = 0.70, P < 0.001), body mass (r = 0.64, P < 0.001), body height (r = 0.58, P < 0.001), speed (r = 0.94, P < 0.001) and PVO2max (r = 0.89, P < 0.001). Modified norms in the form of simple and multiple regression equations have been computed. Our results suggest that SRT in its original form cannot be applied in the young males of Kolkata, India, due to its poor agreement with the direct method but is applicable with the modified equations. The SEE of these currently proposed norms arc substantially small enough to recommend the modified equations in the studied population to evaluate VO2max.