Feasibility, reproducibility and validity of the 10 meter Shuttle Test in mild to moderately impaired people with stroke

Abstract

Background There currently is no field test available for measuring maximal exercise capacity in people with stroke. Objective To determine the feasibility, reproducibility and validity of the Shuttle Test (ST) to measure exercise capacity in people with stroke. Design Longitudinal study design. Setting Rehabilitation department, day care centres from a nursing home and private practices specialized in neuro rehabilitation. Subjects People with subacute or chronic stroke. Interventions A standardized protocol was used to determine feasibility, reproducibility and validity of the 10-meter Shuttle Test (10mST). Main measures Number of shuttles completed, 1 st Ventilatory Threshold (1 st VT). Results The associations of the number of shuttles completed and cardiopulmonary capacity as measured with a portable gas analyser were r > 0.7, confirming good convergent validity in subacute and chronic people with stroke. Criterion validity, however, indicates it is not a valid test for measuring maximal cardiopulmonary capacity (VO 2max ). Only 60% of participants were able to reach the 1 st VT. Higher cardiopulmonary capacity and a higher total score of the lower extremity Motricity Index contributed significantly to a higher number of shuttles walked (p = 0.001). Conclusions The Shuttle Test may be a safe and useful exercise test for people after stroke, but may not be appropriate for use with people who walk slower than 2 km/h or 0.56 m/s.

Modified Isoinertial-Based Ruffier Test in Healthy Individuals: A Feasibility Study

“…Standard protocols to predict VO 2 max require at least 4/6 min of physical exercise; this demanding use of time can discourage clinicians from evaluating CRF in primary care. There are different VO 2 max evaluation methods that requires a minimum amount of time and no special equipment such as the Chester step test [ 17 ], and the incremental shuttle walking test [ 18 ]. Between these methods to evaluate cardiorespiratory fitness with no equipment, there is also a squat test named the Ruffier test.…”