Validity of the Pediatric Running-Based Anaerobic Sprint Test to Determine Anaerobic Performance in Healthy Children

Abstract

Purpose:To determine criterion validity of the pediatric running-based anaerobic sprint test (RAST) as a nonsophisticated field test for evaluating anaerobic performance in healthy children and adolescents.Methods:Data from 65 healthy children (28 boys and 37 girls between 6 and 18 years of age, mean ± SD age: 10.0 ± 2.8 years) who completed both the pediatric RAST and the 30-s Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) on a cycle ergometer in a randomized order were analyzed. Peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) were the primary outcome measures for both tests.Results:There were no significant sex-differences in PP and MP attained at the pediatric RAST and the WAnT. Age was strongly correlated to pediatric RAST and WAnT performance (Spearman’s rho values ranging from 0.85 to 0.90, with p < .001 for all coefficients). We found high correlation coefficients between pediatric RAST performance and WAnT performance for both PP (Spearman’s rho: 0.86; p < .001) and MP (Spearman’s rho: 0.91; p < .001).Conclusion:The pediatric RAST can be used as a valid and nonsophisticated field test for the assessment of anaerobic performance in healthy children and adolescents. For clinical evaluative purposes, we suggest to use MP of the pediatric RAST when assessing glycolytic power in the absence of the WAnT.