BACKGROUND
Pre-exercise screening is important to identify the fitness level of older adults prior to performing exercise.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to develop a screening tool for identifying older adults with poor physical fitness prior to exercising.
METHODS
Subjects involved 2315 older adults. Several social and health parameters were investigated and fitness level was assessed using hand grip strength. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was chosen to determine the cut-off point, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and Youden`s Index of the screening tool.
RESULTS
Age, sex, waist circumference, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and fasting blood sugar were selected as items of screening tool. The screening tool had sensitivity of 77%, specificity of 80.9%, PPV of 79% and Youden`s Index of 0.579%.
CONCLUSIONS
The fitness screening tool has good sensitivity, specificity, PPV and Youden`s Index. Hence, it is suitable to be used for identification of older adults with poor physical fitness.