Responsiveness of Health-Related Field-Based Physical Fitness Tests in Adults: The ADULT-FIT Project

Abstract The aim of the present study was to determine the responsiveness of health-related field-based physical fitness tests in adults. A total of 62 non-active participants aged 18–64 years were randomized into the intervention (n = 31) and control (n = 31) groups. The exercise program included three sessions/wk (60 min per session) of multicomponent exercise training for 12 weeks. The control group continued with their usual routines. Pre–post differences were explored with pairwise comparison analysis of variance for each group. The proportion of responders/non-responders and the percentage of the population that was expected to respond to the intervention were calculated. None of the tests changed pre–post in the control group (all p > 0.05 and Cohen’s d ≤ 0.2). In the intervention group, overall, all tests were found to be responsive (all p < 0.01) after the exercise program with an effects size improvement of moderate to large (all Cohen’s d > 0.50), except the body weight, waist circumference, and handgrip (Cohen’s d ≤ 0.1). In absolute terms, the pre- and post-test differences in the intervention group were –0.94 kg in body weight, –0.84 cm in waist circumference, 1.30 stages in the 20-m shuttle run test, –82.62 s in the 2-km walk test, 62.50 m in the 6-min walk test, –0.33 s in the 6-m gait speed test, –0.71 s in the timed up & go test, –1.23 s in the 4 x 10-m shuttle run test, 1.35 kg in the handgrip test, 17.25 cm in the standing long jump test, 3.62 repetitions in the 30-s sit to stand test and 44.11 s in the prone bridging test. The proportion of individual responders was >46%, while the proportion of the population expected to respond was >85% in most of the tests evaluated, except for the anthropometric and handgrip tests. The proportion of individual responders was>46%, while the proportion of the population expected to respond was>85% in most of the tests evaluated. All the health-related field-based physical fitness tests were found to be responsive following a 12-week multicomponent exercise training program, except the anthropometric and handgrip tests, which were less responsive than the others and might require specifically targeted interventions to respond further.