Development and Validation of a Functional Fitness Test for Community-Residing Older Adults

Abstract

Preventing or delaying the onset of physical frailty is an increasingly important goal because more individuals are living well into their 8th and 9th decades. We describe the development and validation of a functional fitness test battery that can assess the physiologic parameters that support physical mobility in older adults. The procedures involved in the test development were (a) developing a theoretical framework for the test items, (b) establishing an advisory panel of experts, (c) determining test selection criteria, (d) selecting the test items, and (e) establishing test reliability and validity. The complete battery consists of 6 items (and one alternative) designed to assess the physiologic parameters associated with independent functioning—lower and upper body strength, aerobic endurance, lower and upper body flexibility, and agility/dynamic balance. We also assessed body mass index as an estimate of body composition. We concluded that the tests met the established criteria for scientific rigor and feasibility for use in common community settings.

Association of Physical Fitness With Pain in Women With Fibromyalgia: The al‐Ándalus Project

“…Physical fitness was assessed with the Senior Fitness Test battery and a complete description of each test is given elsewhere (19). These performance-based functional fitness tests have been previously used in women with FM (5) and have been shown to be feasible and reliable in this population (20).…”

“…The 30-second chair stand test was performed as a measure of lower-body muscle strength (19) and the number of repetitions was recorded. The arm curl test was performed as a measure of upper-body muscle strength (19), and the number of repetitions with each arm was recorded.…”

“…The arm curl test was performed as a measure of upper-body muscle strength (19), and the number of repetitions with each arm was recorded. The handgrip strength test was performed with a digital dynamometer (TKK 5101 Grip-D, Takey) as previously described (22).…”

“…The chair sit and reach test was performed as a measure of lower-body flexibility (19), using the average score from each leg. The back scratch test was used as a measure of upper-body flexibility (19), which provides a measure of the overall shoulder range of motion.…”

The effects of a lifestyle physical activity counseling program with feedback of a pedometer during pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD: A pilot study

“…Physical fitness was measured by the 'chair stand test' (reliability: test-retest correlation r 0.80), 'the arm curl test' (reliability: r 0.81), the '8-foot upand-go test' (reliability: r 0.95) and the '2-min step test' (reliability: r 0.90) [37,38]. The 2-min step test is an alternative for the 6-min walk test, which is more space-and time-consuming.…”