Psychometric Suitability of Adaptations to the Special Judo Fitness Test for Athletes With Visual Impairment

Abstract

This study aimed to test the reliability, sensitivity, construct and logical validity of an adapted Special Judo Fitness Test (SJFT) for judo athletes with visual impairment . Twenty judo athletes with visual impairments performed both the adapted SJFT with tactile and sonorous stimuli (experimental conditions) and the typically administered SJFT (standard condition). We used analyses of variance (ANOVAs) with repeated-measures to compare the groups’ SJFT performances, and one-way ANOVAs to compare different visual ability classes of athletes (B1, B2 and B3). We used t-tests to compare SJFT variables between elite and sub-elite groups. We set statistical significance for all tests at p < 0.05. The standard SJFT showed excellent test-retest reliability for number of throws and overall index (ICC = 0.91–0.95), and both sonorous and tactile sensitivity adaptations of the SJFT showed medium sensitivity for detecting performance changes. The number of throws and SJFT index were higher with the sonorous adaptation of the test, compared to the tactile and standard versions ( p < 0.001). Athletes who were blind (B1) presented similar performances to athletes who were partially sighted (B2 and B3) only on the SJFT with the sonorous stimulus. Moreover, only the sonorous SJFT adaptation discriminated between the performances of elite and sub-elite athletes ( p < 0.001). In conclusion, both SJFT adaptations showed excellent reliability and medium sensitivity on test-retest, but, only the SJFT with the sonorous stimulus seemed valid for assessing judo athletes with varying degrees of visual impairment, and only the sonorous stimulus SJFT discriminated elite from sub-elite athletes.

A Scoping Review on Para Judo

“…In closing, one study tested the psychometric suitability of an adapted Special Judo Fitness Test for para-judokas through two separate adaptations involving sonorous or tactile stimuli. The Judo Fitness Test with the sonorous stimulus was preferred as useful and easier to apply during training routines, being the only valid for distinguishing judokas with different degrees of VI (i.e., B1, B2, and B3), as well as the elite from subelite para-judokas on all performance variables 38 …”

Tactile and Auditory Stimuli Can Improve the Specific Physical Performance of Para-Judo Athletes With Varied Origins of Visual Impairment

“…This is a secondary analysis of the same data used previously (Kons et al, 2021b) regarding validity of a specific protocol for athletes with visual impairment considering the origin of impairment. The assessments were performed in two stages, separated by 48 hours.…”

“…The performance variables used for analysis in all situations were number of throws in the first set (SJFT A ), second set (SJFT B ), and third set (SJFT C ), total throws (SJFT TT ), and heart rate immediately after the test (HR FINAL ) and after 1 minute (HR 1MIN ). The reliability of the two adaptations for judo athletes with visual impairment was previously tested and showed an ICC of 0.97 for the tactile stimulus and 0.99 for the sonorous stimulus (Kons et al, 2021b).…”

“…Investigations have recently evaluated the performance of judo athletes with visual impairment, focusing on different aspects of seemingly relevant judo performance, particularly the time-motion structure of judo matches and the athletes’ technical-tactical performance (Gutierrez-Santiago et al, 2011; Gutiérrez-Santiago et al, 2020; Kons et al, 2019; Kons et al, 2021a; Krabben et al, 2018), the athletes’ percentage of victories in competitions over a period of years (Mashkovskiy et al, 2019), the assessment of visual function and its relationship to competitive performance (Krabben et al, 2021a, Krabben et al, 2021b), physical performance (Kons et al, 2021b), world ranking performance (Kons et al, 2021b), and the use of the Delphi analysis approach (Krabben et al, 2019).…”

“…Considering these aspects, the development of specific measures based on specific motor performance is one alternative in the development of evidence-based classifications of Paralympic sports, considering the different origins of impairment (step 3b “develop measures of performance”) (Mann et al, 2021). Therefore, adaptations of specific tests could be a relevant research perspective, especially considering that athletes with visual impairments (Kons et al, 2021b) do not have any physical impairments.…”