INTERRATER RELIABILITY AND TIME MEASUREMENT VALIDITY OF SPEED-AGILITY FIELD TESTS IN ADOLESCENTS

Vicente-Rodriguez, G, Rey-Lopez, JP, Ruiz, JR, Jimenez-Pavon, D, Bergman, P, Ciarapica, D, Heredia, JM, Molnar, D, Gutierrez, A, Moreno, LA, and Ortega, FB. Interrater reliability and time measurement validity of speed-agility field tests in adolescents. J Strength Cond Res 25(7): 2059-2063, 2011-The aim of this study was to examine the interrater reliability (trained vs. untrained raters) and criterion-related validity (manual vs. automatic timing) of the 4 x 10-m shuttle run and 30-m running speed tests (times measured). The study comprised 85 adolescents (38 girls) aged 13.0-16.9 years from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study. The time required to complete the 4 3 10-m shuttle run and 30-m running tests was simultaneously measured (a) manually with a stopwatch by both trained and untrained raters (for interrater reliability analysis), and (b) by using photoelectric cells (for validity analysis). Systematic error, random error, and heteroscedasticity were studied with repeated-measured analysis of variance and Bland-Altman plots. The systematic error for untrained vs. trained raters and the untrained raters vs. photoelectric cells were in all cases; 0.1 seconds (p < 0.01), that is, untrained raters recorded higher times. No systematic error was found between trained raters and photoelectric cells (p > 0.05). No heteroscedasticity was shown in any case (p > 0.05). The findings indicate that manual measurements by a trained rater, using a stopwatch, seem to be a valid method to assess speed and agility fitness testing in adolescents. Researchers must be trained to minimize the measurement error.