A qualitative scale of the 6-minute race test to evaluate maximum aerobic speed in physically active people from 18 to 25 years

Abstract

[Purpose] To create a qualitative scale for the 6-minute race test in physically active participants from 18 to 25 years old. [Participants and Methods] The sample was 299 healthy participants (254 males and 45 females). All the participants were instructed to perform the greatest possible distance in the 6-minute race test. To evaluate the reliability of the 6-minute race test, 30 participants performed the 6-minute race test for a second time. The variable was distance in meters. The qualitative scale was constructed with the percentiles <25, 50, 75, 90 and >90 for the criteria poor, fair, good, very good and excellent, respectively; the reliability was calculated with the coefficient of variation, intra-class correlation coefficient and the standard error of the mean. [Results] In the 6-minute race test, the mean was 1,607 and 1,364 meters for males and females, respectively. The coefficient of variation=4.08%, intra-class correlation coefficient=0.93 and standard error of the mean=11.46. [Conclusion] The creation of the qualitative scale of the 6-minute race test allows us to evaluate and classify the level and increase of maximum aerobic speed in physically active participants from 18 to 25 years old.