Abstract
Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness involves both cardiovascular and respiratory capacities. However, existing methods have been criticised for reflecting cardiovascular fitness, but not pulmonary fitness. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between these two testing parameters. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based physical fitness assessment was conducted in 23 schools. The body height and weight, lung capacity, and step test results of students aged 10-18 were recorded. Criterion-referenced standards from the China Sports Bureau were adopted, as they include separate measurements for cardiovascular and pulmonary fitness. Results: The Pearson coefficients of lung capacity and the step test index from 13,028 schoolchildren ranged from 0.007 to 0.086 and from 0.026 to 0.105 for boys and girls, respectively, showing that poor correlations exist between the two parameters. Cluster analysis resulted in three clusters of children with similar characteristics. A good degree of similarity was found between the two parameters in children obtaining an “excellent” grade, but only a moderate degree of similarity between the two parameters in those obtaining a “good”, “pass” or “fail” grade. Conclusion: When cardiovascular fitness and pulmonary fitness are considered separately, there is a poor correlation between them, thus indicating further studies of cardiopulmonary fitness measurements is necessary.
Highlights
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) indicates a healthy cardiovascular profile in youth [1,2,3]
The literature reports that CRF is sometimes used instead of cardiovascular fitness to reflect the functional capabilities of the heart, blood vessels, lungs and skeletal muscles as a body system in performing large-muscle, dynamic, moderate to high-intensity exercises over relatively long periods [4]
Some of the children were unable to complete the step test or lung capacity test, with complete test data obtained for 9389 participants
Summary
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) indicates a healthy cardiovascular profile in youth [1,2,3]. There is a gap in the research on the relationship between these two fitness parameters, and the aim of this study was to explore whether a single field test can assess both cardiovascular and respiratory fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness involves both cardiovascular and respiratory capacities. Results: The Pearson coefficients of lung capacity and the step test index from 13,028 schoolchildren ranged from 0.007 to 0.086 and from 0.026 to 0.105 for boys and girls, respectively, showing that poor correlations exist between the two parameters. Conclusion: When cardiovascular fitness and pulmonary fitness are considered separately, there is a poor correlation between them, indicating further studies of cardiopulmonary fitness measurements is necessary
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