Assessing Health-Related Fitness Tests in the School Setting: Reliability, Feasibility and Safety; The ALPHA Study

TLDR

The study aimed to assess the reliability, feasibility, and safety of a health‑related fitness test battery administered by PE teachers in schools. Six PE teachers from three primary and three secondary schools administered the 20 m shuttle run, handgrip, standing long jump, weight, stature, triceps and subscapular thickness, and waist circumference to 58 children (6–11 yr) and 80 adolescents (12–18 yr) twice over a 7‑day interval, while researchers directly observed feasibility and safety. Inter‑trial differences were significant for children’s standing long jump, stature, and waist circumference, and for adolescents’ waist circumference, yet all feasibility and safety items were successful, confirming that the tests are reliable, feasible, and safe in schools.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the reliability, feasibility and safety of a health-related fitness test battery administered by Physical Education (PE) teachers in the school setting. Six PE teachers, from three primary schools and three secondary schools, assessed twice (7 days apart) the 20 m shuttle run, handgrip and standing long jump tests, as well as weight, stature, triceps and subscapular thickness and waist circumference in 58 children (age: 6–11 yr) and 80 adolescents (age: 12–18 yr). Feasibility and safety were assessed by researches by means of direct observation. Significant inter-trial differences were found for the standing long jump test (3.8±12.7 cm, P<0.05) and for stature (0.73±0.8 cm, P<0.001) in children, and for waist circumference in both children and adolescents (−0.82±1.2 cm and −0.35±0.8 cm respectively, P=0.001). The feasibility and safety items assessed presented a successful answer. Therefore, the results indicate that health-related fitness tests administered by PE teachers are reliable, feasible and safe to be performed in the school setting.