The Andersen aerobic fitness test: New peak oxygen consumption prediction equations in 10 and 16-year olds

Abstract

Measurement of aerobic fitness by determining peak oxygen consumption (VO_2peak ) is often not feasible in children and adolescents, thus field tests such as the Andersen test are required in many settings, for example in most school-based studies. This study provides cross-validated prediction equations for VO_2peak based on the Andersen test in 10 and 16-year-old children. We included 235 children (n = 113 10-year olds and 122 16-year olds) who performed the Andersen test and a progressive treadmill test to exhaustion to determine VO_2peak . Joint and sex-specific prediction equations were derived and tested in 20 random samples. Performance in terms of systematic (bias) and random error (limits of agreement) was evaluated by means of Bland-Altman plots. Bias varied from -4.28 to 5.25 mL/kg/min across testing datasets, sex, and the 2 age groups. Sex-specific equations (mean bias -0.42 to 0.16 mL/kg/min) performed somewhat better than joint equations (-1.07 to 0.84 mL/kg/min). Limits of agreement were substantial across all datasets, sex, and both age groups, but were slightly lower in 16-year olds (5.84-13.29 mL/kg/min) compared to 10-year olds (9.60-15.15 mL/kg/min). We suggest the presented equations can be used to predict VO_2peak from the Andersen test performance in children and adolescents on a group level. Although the Andersen test appears to be a good measure of aerobic fitness, researchers should interpret cross-sectional individual-level predictions of VO_2peak with caution due to large random measurement errors.

Keywords: agreement; cardiorespiratory fitness; measurement; prediction, field test.