TY - JOUR
T1 - Fitkids Treadmill Test: Age- and Sex-Related Normative Values in Dutch Children and Adolescents
AU - Kotte, Elles M. W.
AU - de Groot, Janke F.
AU - Bongers, Bart C.
AU - Winkler, Alexander M. F.
AU - Takken, Tim
PY - 2016/11
Y1 - 2016/11
N2 - Background. Recent research has shown that the Fitkids Treadmill Test (FTT) is a valid and reproducible exercise test for the assessment of aerobic exercise capacity in children and adolescents who are healthy. Objective. The study objective was to provide sex- and age-related normative values for FTT performance in children and adolescents who were healthy, developing typically, and 6 to 18 years of age. Design. This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Methods. Three hundred fifty-six children and adolescents who were healthy (174 boys and 182 girls; mean age=12.9 years, SD=3.7) performed the FTT to their maximal effort to assess time to exhaustion (TTE). The least-mean-square method was used to generate sex-and age-related centile charts (P3, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90, and P97) for TTE on the FTT. Results. In boys, the reference curve (P50) showed an almost linear increase in TTE with age, from 8.8 minutes at 6 years of age to 16.1 minutes at 18 years of age. In girls, the P50 values for TTE increased from 8.8 minutes at 6 years of age to 12.5 minutes at 18 years of age, with a plateau in TTE starting at approximately 10 years of age. Limitations. Youth who were not white were underrepresented in this study. Conclusions. This study describes sex- and age-related normative values for FTT performance in children and adolescents who were healthy, developing typically, and 6 to 18 years of age. These age- and sex-related normative values will increase the usefulness of the FTT in clinical practice.
AB - Background. Recent research has shown that the Fitkids Treadmill Test (FTT) is a valid and reproducible exercise test for the assessment of aerobic exercise capacity in children and adolescents who are healthy. Objective. The study objective was to provide sex- and age-related normative values for FTT performance in children and adolescents who were healthy, developing typically, and 6 to 18 years of age. Design. This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Methods. Three hundred fifty-six children and adolescents who were healthy (174 boys and 182 girls; mean age=12.9 years, SD=3.7) performed the FTT to their maximal effort to assess time to exhaustion (TTE). The least-mean-square method was used to generate sex-and age-related centile charts (P3, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90, and P97) for TTE on the FTT. Results. In boys, the reference curve (P50) showed an almost linear increase in TTE with age, from 8.8 minutes at 6 years of age to 16.1 minutes at 18 years of age. In girls, the P50 values for TTE increased from 8.8 minutes at 6 years of age to 12.5 minutes at 18 years of age, with a plateau in TTE starting at approximately 10 years of age. Limitations. Youth who were not white were underrepresented in this study. Conclusions. This study describes sex- and age-related normative values for FTT performance in children and adolescents who were healthy, developing typically, and 6 to 18 years of age. These age- and sex-related normative values will increase the usefulness of the FTT in clinical practice.
U2 - 10.2522/ptj.20150399
DO - 10.2522/ptj.20150399
M3 - Article
C2 - 27197825
SN - 0031-9023
VL - 96
SP - 1764
EP - 1772
JO - Physical Therapy
JF - Physical Therapy
IS - 11
ER -