Responsiveness of Health-Related Field-Based Physical Fitness Tests in Adults: The Adult-Fit Project

The aim of the present study was to determine the responsiveness of the health-related field-based physical fitness tests used in adults. A total of 62 non-active participants aged 18 to 64 years were randomized into the intervention ( n =31) or control group ( n =31). The exercise program included 3 sessions/wk (60 min/session) of multicomponent exercise training for 12 weeks. The control group continued with their usual routines. Pre-post differences were explored with pairwise comparison ANOVA for each group. Percentage of change and the size effect were also calculated. The proportion of responders/non-responders and percentage of the population that was expected to respond to the intervention were calculated. Characteristics of study groups were similar at baseline (all P >0.05). All tests were found to be responsive (all P <0.01) after the exercise program, except the waist circumference measurement ( P =0.09); with an effects size of moderate to large ( Cohen’s d >0.50), except to the weight, body mass index, waist circumference and handgrip tests with trivial effect sizes ( P >0.05, Cohen’s d <0.20). The highest proportion of individual responders based on the standard deviation was observed in the 4×10-m shuttle run, 30-s sit-to-stand, 6-m gait speed and timed up & go tests. The proportion of the population that was expected to respond to the intervention was higher than 85% in most of the field-based physical fitness tests evaluated. Overall, all health-related field-based physical fitness tests were found to be responsive after a multicomponent exercise intervention regardless sex and age.