THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE PACER FOR 3RD AND 4TH GRADE MALES

Abstract

FITNESSGRAM recommends the use of the PACER, a 20-meter shuttle run, to assess the aerobic capacity (VO2max) of school-age children. However, direct measurement of VO2max while performing the PACER has yet to be reported. PURPOSE: To examine the reliability and validity of the PACER for 3rd and 4th grade males. In addition, the reliability and validity of the criterion-referenced standards were examined. METHODS: 22 male students, mean age 8.86 +/− .71, performed three trials of the FITNESSGRAM PACER while VO2max was measured using a portable metabolic unit (Cosmed K4b2, Italy). RESULTS: Intraclass correlation for the number of laps for trial 2 to trial 3 was 0.81. The reliability of the estimated VO2max from trial 2 to trial 3 was 0.83. For validity, the correlation for the estimated VO2max to actual VO2max was 0.42 for trial 2 and for trial 3 the correlation was 0.60. The correlation between the number of laps completed and VO2max was 0.57 for trial 2 and 0.69 for trial 3. The consistency of the classification for the criterion-referenced standards was 0.91 with a modified kappa of 0.85. The accuracy of the classification for the criterion-referenced standards for trial 2 was 0.59. For trial 3, the proportion of agreement was 0.68. CONCLUSION: The criterion-referenced standards consistently classifies the participants, however, the validity of the classification is low. Actual VO2max and the estimated VO2max did not appear to be highly related. However, the PACER has high test-retest reliability for males ages 8–10 years.