The Functional Fitness Assessment Battery: Reliability and Validity Data for Elderly Women

Abstract

A battery of field tests was recently developed to assess five fitness parameters in elderly persons. The present study examined the test-retest reliability of each item in the battery and tested the validity of the cardiorespiratory endurance item. Reliability and validity data were obtained from two convenience samples. The 29 subjects in the reliability study were community-living women enrolled in seniors’ exercise classes. The validity of the cardiorespiratory endurance item was tested by comparing it with maximal work capacity on a treadmill test. The 52 women in that part of the study were all participants in a study to assess the effect of weight-bearing exercises on women with low bone mass. Both samples were combined for a principal component analysis. Low reproducibility was observed for coordination (0.54) and strength/endurance (0.56). After slightly modifying the test protocol for these two items, reproducibility reached 84 and 94%, respectively. The correlation between the cardiorespiratory endurance score and maximal work capacity was −0.65, while that between the composite score and maximal work capacity was −0.64. Given these minor modifications, then, the Functional Fitness Assessment battery is a reliable and valid tool for assessing functional fitness in elderly women.