Methods of Assessing Fitness and Physical Capacity

Methods of Assessing Fitness and Physical Capacity of People With Special Needs - Searching for Guidelines and Methods for Measuring the Population of People With Impairments

Aerobic fitness is an important part of sport training preparation for wheelchair rugby players. Currently, there are some test protocols on arm crank ergometer for spinal cord injury people. However, wheelchair propulsion seems to be better and more specific movement to assess aerobic fitness in wheelchair rugby player. Thus, this pilot study was designed to determine the reliability of the aerobic fitness test protocol on a wheelchair ergometer for wheelchair rugby players.

Methods Ten wheelchair rugby players (C5/6 = 4, C6/C7 = 3, C7/th1 = 1 all with incomplete lesions, cerebral palsy (CP) = 1; dysmelia = 1; mean age = 32,90 yr. ± 5,17; body mass = 70,04 kg ± 12,53; body height = 177,70 cm ± 18,64) participated in the aerobic fitness test on the Lode Esseda wheelchair ergometer (LEM Software 10.12, Groningen, Netherlands). This test involved different considering players' International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) class (class 0.5 = 4 players, classes 1.0-1.5 = 6 players, and classes 2.0-3.5 = 8 players) increments of workload every minute at constant velocity of 4.5 km/h. Peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak l/min, V̇O2peak ml/kg/min), minute ventilation (VE), and the test time achieved were collected (Cortex Metamax). The load [N, Watts] from the last fully achieved level in the test was noticed. Participants repeated the aerobic fitness test twice with 24h break. Each player had 10 minutes warm-up before the test. Differences (T-test for independent groups or Wilcoxon test) and correlations (Pearson test or Spearman test) between results from the first and the second repetition of the test (fully achieved load level in the test) were calculated to establish reliability. The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were added. The significance level was set at p<.05

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Fitness
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Aerobic Fitness Test

Detailed Description

"the Lode Esseda" is the name of a wheelchair ergometer.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 10

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Poland
  • Mazovia
    • Warsaw, Mazovia, Poland, 00-968
      • Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

the elite wheelchair rugby players (Polish National Team players) group is a small group of population

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- wheelchair rugby players - elite athletes, national team athletes

Exclusion Criteria:

- not healthy participant

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Other

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Wheelchair Rugby Group; wheelchair rugby players, elite athletes, national team athletes	Diagnostic test: Aerobic Fitness Test; aerobic fitness test to assess wheelchair rugby players capacity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
aerobic fitness test	Determination the reliability of the aerobic fitness test protocol on a wheelchair ergometer for wheelchair rugby players.	13.03.2020-30.06.2021

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jolanta Marszałek
• Collaborators: Polish Wheelchair Rugby Federation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 13, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 21, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 22, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 22, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 3, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 12, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 5, 2021
• Last Verified: October 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Aerobic Fitness; Protocol; Capacity; Wheelchair Rugby; Impairments
• Other Study ID Numbers: SKE 01-01/2020 (1)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No