Table 4.

Scalability of field based cardiovascular fitness tests

Assessment item	20-m shuttle run	1-mile walk/run
Delivery
Ease of integration into usual service delivery	66.7 % (four teachers) had previous experience of test [34] Number of children that can be tested at once depends on space restrictions and capacity for timing individuals = 1 m width per child is recommended [35, 36]	Number of children that can be tested at once depends on space restrictions and capacity for timing individuals
Burden on delivery staff and other stakeholders	Considered feasible based on survey results from six PE teachers who were asked about factors relating to: (1) whether children wore appropriate clothing to perform, (2) ease of instructions, (3) ease of implementation, (4) rejections and appropriateness of facilities [34]	–
Preparation requirements	Two lines set up 20 m apart, speakers equal distance from each [36]	Measure distance if track unavailable
Test duration	Preparation = 5 min, testing = 10 min (a group of 20 individuals) [34]	Mean ± SD time for 8 = 11 years = 9.2 ± 1.8 mins (males), 10.3 ± 1.8 mins (females) [32]
Effectiveness
Reach and adoption	Shown to be the preferable choice over the one mile run for student’s motivation for participation [37]. Students on average reported significantly higher situational interest in attention demand, exploration intention, and novelty in the 20-m shuttle run than one mile run [38]	Physical activity engagement (duration of activity, pace, energy expenditure) was significantly greater in the one mile run than the 20-m shuttle run, particularly for the low-performing students with a relatively high BMI [38]
Completion rates	One participant (n = 128) stopped due to lower body muscle cramp, tests were well tolerated, occurrence of severe DOMS in ten participants [34]	–
Resource requirements
Equipment	Audio device, speakers, cones to mark length [36]	Stopwatch
Space	Flat surface, indoor (preferred) or outdoor (weather dependent), 20 m in length + room to turn round, 1-m width per child [36]	Outside measurable area, flat surface, no standard surface for this test therefore outdoor 400-m athletics track [10], dirt track [17], or grass athletics track [39] suitable
Human resource	Two members of staff = one to ensure protocols are followed correctly, one to record scores [36]	Two members of staff = one to time and one to record results [10, 17]
Training	CD provides audio instructions = no technical training required [36]	No advanced technical training requirements
Costs	–	–
Practical implementation issues and considerations	For a single study, 22 (37.9 %) children and 25 (33.3 %) adolescents experienced some degree of DOMS, from whom six children (10.3 %) and four adolescents (5.3 %) indicated that their DOMS was severe. Three (2.3 %) subjects reported having severe pain in the upper body, 29 (21.8 %) in the lower body and 14 (10.5 %) in the whole body. Most (39 participants; 29.3 %) assumed that the 20-m shuttle run test could be the cause. For 11 (19 %) children and 14 (18.7%) adolescents, DOMS caused difficulties in daily activities, especially stair climbing and walking [34]	Participants may have difficulty in developing an appropriate pace; participants may either start too fast so that they are not able to keep up the speed all through the test, or they may start too slow so that when they want to increase speed, the test is already finished [4]

PE physical education, DOMS delayed onset muscle soreness, CD compact disc, SD standard deviation, BMI body mass index