Validation of Test Studies for the Analysis of Aerobic Power in Tetraplegic Athletes

Abstract

The following study presents a review of the literature from 1980 to 2011 that aims to find original methodologies to evaluate aerobic power in athletes with tetraplegia, to describe the methodological procedures used and to present the possible methodological errors analysed so that other studies can develop more reliable and adequate protocols for this population. The databases ScienceDirect, Scopus, Pubmed and Medline were searched using the keywords “Wheelchair Users”, “Spinal Cord Injury”, “Field Test”, “Validation” and “Peak Oxygen Consumption”. After an in-depth analysis of the manuscripts, 10 articles were selected, all with international authors. It can be concluded that the use of these resources is an important area of interest in the field of parasport performance, although there are some restrictions due to the types of disability, the difficulty of obtaining homogeneous samples and the difficulty of obtaining sufficient sample groups to perform statistical procedures. Despite the evolution in evaluation processes in the field of sport, more studies should be proposed so that the field protocols become more reliable and adequate for this population.