Validation of StepTest4all for Assessing Cardiovascular Capacity in Young Adults

José A. Bragada (), Raul F. Bartolomeu, Pedro M. Rodrigues, Pedro M. Magalhães, João P. Bragada and Jorge E. Morais
Additional contact information
José A. Bragada: Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Raul F. Bartolomeu: Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Pedro M. Rodrigues: Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
Pedro M. Magalhães: Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal
João P. Bragada: North East Local Health Unit—Health Care Unit of Santa Maria, 5301-852 Bragança, Portugal
Jorge E. Morais: Department of Sport Sciences, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Cardiovascular capacity, expressed as maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2max ), is a strong predictor of health and fitness and is considered a key measure of physiological function in the healthy adult population. The purpose of this study was to validate a specific step test (StepTest4all) as an adequate procedure to estimate cardiovascular capacity in young adults. Methods: The sample was composed of 56 participants, including 19 women (aged 21.05 ± 2.39 years, body mass = 57.50 ± 6.64 kg, height = 1.62 ± 0.05 m, body mass index = 22.00 ± 2.92 kg/m 2 ) and 37 men (aged 22.05 ± 3.14 years, body mass = 72.50 ± 7.73 kg, height = 1.76 ± 0.07 m, body mass index = 23.34 ± 2.17 kg/m 2 ). Participants were included in one of the following groups: (i) the group used to predict the VO 2max , and (ii) the group used to validate the prediction model. All participants performed the StepTest4all protocol. The step height and the intensity of the effort was determined individually. Heart rate and oxygen uptake were measured continuously during rest, effort, and recovery phases. The validation process included the following three stages: (i) mean data comparison, (ii) simple linear regression, and (iii) Bland–Altman analysis. Results: The linear regression retained, as significant predictors of the VO 2max , sex ( p < 0.001) and heart rate recovery for one minute ( p = 0.003). The prediction equation revealed a high relationship between measurements (R 2 = 63.0%, SEE = 5.58). The validation procedure revealed non-significant differences ( p > 0.05) between the measured and estimated maximal oxygen uptake, high relationship (R 2 = 63.3%), and high agreement with Bland–Altman plots. Thus, VO 2max can be estimated with the formula: VO 2max = 22 + 0.3 · (HRR 1min ) + 12 · (sex), where HRR 1min is the magnitude of the HR decrease (bpm) in one minute immediately after the step was stopped, and sex: men = 1, women = 0. Conclusions: The StepTest4all is an adequate procedure to estimate cardiovascular capacity, expressed as VO 2max , in young adults. In addition, it is possible to determine the qualitative level of cardiovascular capacity from the heart rate recovery for one minute, more specifically, poor: <20, moderate: 20 to 34, good: 35 to 49, and excellent: ≥50. This procedure has the benefit of being simple to apply and can be used by everyone, even at home, without specialist supervision.

Keywords: heart rate recovery; exercise and health; StepTest4all; cardiovascular capacity; cardiovascular classification; validation; VO 2max (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11274/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11274/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11274-:d:909561

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().