| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立嘉義大學 === 體育與健康休閒研究所 === 94 === Field tests currently used to assess cardiopulmonary fitness in elderly people involve with the test modes of walking or stepping, such as 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 12-minute walking/running and 3-minute stepping test. However, these field tests require either considerable space or bulky and heavy equipment. Moreover, the elderly might fall during testing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new testing method for elderly to assess cardiopulmonary fitness. Purpose：The study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the squat test and to establish a regression model for predicting maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). We also compared the squat test with the 6MWT. Method：Twenty-five healthy men aged 60 to 75 years old were recruited. Each subject performed a maximal exercise test, a 6MWT and four squat tests. All tests were completed in two days. Maximal exercise test was to determine maximal oxygen consumption. The main outcome measures of the 6MWT included distance and immediate heart rate (HR). When performing the squat test, the subject started at a standing position with his elbows 90° flexed at the sides of the waist. With a custom-made lightweight equipment, the subject was guided to squat down to 45° knee flexion with both arms pushed out at the same time, and then returned to the starting position. The subject repeated the sequences at a rate of 104 cycles/min for 3 minutes. Recovery heart rates (HR) (0~30, 60~90, 120~150 seconds) were measured following the squat test. The fitness indexes included the sum of recovery HR, recovery HR index, age-recovery HR index and immediate HR. Result：Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for the fitness indexes of the squat test were ranging from 0.6 to 0.95. The intra-day reliability was higher than the inter-day reliability for every fitness index. The intra-day or the inter-day reliability ICC of the age-recovery HR index was the highest among the four fitness indexes. All fitness indexes of the squat test were significantly correlated with VO2peak, with Pearson’s correlation coefficients from 0.45 to 0.71 (p<0.05 or p<0.001). The age-recovery HR index had a highest correlation (0.51<r<0.71). The regression equation for estimating VO2peak was VO2peak=16.781+16.732(age-recovery HR index)+0.02467(physical activity). The distance from the 6MWT was significantly correlated with all the fitness indexes from the squat test, with the correlation coefficients ranging from 0.51 to 0.59 (p<0.001). Conclusion：The results reveal that the squat test is a valid and reliable test for evaluating fitness level in elderly men. In addition to 6MWT, the squat test might be another suitable field test for the elderly.
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