A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study to Examine the Criterion Validity of the Modified Shuttle Test-Paeds as a Measure of Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Children

With accumulating evidence that exercise capacity decreases all-cause mortality independent of adiposity, benefits may be gained by developing cardiorespiratory fitness measures that are specifically and sensitively designed for use with pediatric populations when cardiorespiratory fitness may be a contributing factor for obesity. This study aimed to examine the criterion validity of the Modified Shuttle Test-Paeds (MSTP) as a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness in children, against the gold-standard reference; VO₂peak, compared to the commonly used field-test; 20-m Multi-Stage-Shuttle-Run-Test (20-m MSRT). A cross-sectional pilot study, with 25 school-aged children (age: 6⁻16 year; male/female: 19/5; BMI: 21 ± 9 kg/m²) was employed. Physical measures included: Bruininks-Oseretsky-Test-of-Motor-Proficiency-2nd Edition (BOT2), VO₂peak, 20-m MSRT, MSTP, body composition/anthropometry. The mean cardiorespiratory fitness of participants was: VO₂peak: 43.8 ± 11.2 (mL/kg/min); 20-m MSRT: 5.48 ± 2.96 (level); MSTP: 22.10 ± 3.05 (no.). A strong predictive relationship was found between the 20-m MSRT and VO₂peak (r² = 0.486, < 0.001) whereas a very strong predictive relationship existed between the newly designed MSTP and VO₂peak (r² = 0.749, < 0.001). Whilst further research with larger study cohorts is needed, this pilot study found the MSTP to have a very high predictive validity for estimating VO₂peak in children, suggesting it may be a valid child-specific indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness requiring only a simple equation that is clinically relevant.