RELIABILITY OF TWO FIELD-BASED TESTS FOR
MEASURING CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS IN
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
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CARLOS AYÁN, JOSÉ M. CANCELA, SONIA ROMERO,
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Faculty of Education and Sports Science, Department of Special Didactics, University of Vigo, Vigo, Spain
ABSTRACT
Ayán, C, Cancela, JM, Romero, S, and Alonso, S. Reliability of
two field-based tests for measuring cardiorespiratory fitness
in preschool children. J Strength Cond Res 29(10): 2874–
2880, 2015—This study is aimed at analyzing the reliability of 2
field-based cardiorespiratory fitness tests when applied to a sam-
ple specifically made up of preschool-aged children. A total of 97
preschoolers (mean age: 4.36 6 0.4 years; 50.5% girls) per-
formed Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper tests 3 times (familiar-
ization test and retest). The scores obtained were compared with
the results provided by the 3-minute shuttle run test, which is
considered to be a reliable field-based test for preschoolers. The
Mini-Cooper test showed a high reliability for children aged 4
(intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]: 0.942; 95% confidence
interval [CI]: 0.903–0.965) and 5 years old (ICC: 0.946; 95%
CI: 0.893–0.973). The reliability of Course-Navette was also high
for both 4-year-old (ICC: 0.909; 95% CI: 0.849–0.945) and
5-year-old children (ICC: 0.889; 95% CI: 0.780–0.944). The
mean scores of the 3-minute shuttle run test did not show a sig-
nificant correlation with the mean scores obtained in the Mini-
Cooper test and in the Course-Navette test in the 4-year-old
children. The results of this study suggest that Course-Navette
and Mini-Cooper tests are reliable measures of cardiorespiratory
fitness that can be used to assess health-related fitness in pre-
school children. Nevertheless, some considerations must be
taken into account before administering them.
KEY WORDS Course-Navette, Mini-Cooper, kindergarten
INTRODUCTION
C
urrently, there is an emerging necessity to assess
health-related fitness at an early age (19). In this
regard, the importance of including cardiorespi-
ratory fitness tests in monitoring systems from
early ages has been highlighted (7), as it is considered as
Address correspondence to Carlos Ayán, cayan@uvigo.es.
29(10)/2874–2880
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Ó 2015 National Strength and Conditioning Association
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2874 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
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AND SUSANA ALONSO
an important marker for health and disease during child-
hood (2,22). Consequently, there is a parallel need to use
reliable measures to assess cardiovascular fitness in young
children (22). Scientific research has shown that the cardio-
respiratory fitness level of preschoolers can be objectively
measured through laboratory tests based on direct measures
of this physiological variable (8,16). However, these tests are
expensive and require highly trained experimenters; thus,
they are not feasible for their use in preschool and kinder-
garten settings. On the contrary, field-based fitness tests are
easy to administer and involve minimal equipment, minimal
cost, and a larger number of participants can be evaluated in
a relatively short period (9). Therefore, in the preschool
setting, cardiorespiratory fitness field-based tests are a practi-
cal and feasible option. Nevertheless, there is scant informa-
tion regarding the reliability of field-based cardiovascular
fitness tests that can be administered with children aged 4
and 5. This lack of information seems to be a gap in pediatric
research that needs to be filled.
When assessing cardiorespiratory fitness in children, there
are 2 field-based tests that are widely used: Course-Navette
(15) and Mini-Cooper (5). Course-Navette is a popular
choice because the beginning stages are not overly intense,
the pacing is external and therefore controlled, and the work
loading patterns are similar to those of graded exercise test-
ing. Mini-Cooper is an alternative and interesting option
because it is a short test that allows children to keep running
at the same pace and stay motivated during the test perfor-
mance. Course-Navette test was found to be reliable in chil-
dren aged 6–16 years (15), whereas Mini-Cooper test was
found to be reliable in children aged 9–11 years (17).
Although it has been demonstrated that it is reliable to eval-
uate cardiovascular fitness by means of field-based test in
preschool children (28), and despite the fact that both tests
have been used for preschool research (11–13,21), little is
known about their reliability when administered in this pop-
ulation. This is important because only when test scores are
valid can they be used as the basis for evaluation, and there-
fore, a test cannot be valid unless it is reliable. Under these
circumstances, this study is aimed at establishing reliability
evidence for Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper tests in a sam-
ple composed of children older than 3 and younger than 6

years old. Based on the past research, it has been hypothe-
sized that Course-Navette and the Mini-Cooper tests are
accurate and reliable tools for the assessment of cardiovas-
cular fitness of preschool children, independently of their age
and sex.
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METHODS
Experimental Approach to the Problem
Reliability refers to the reproducibility of values of a test in
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repeated trials on the same individual. In this study, test-
retest reliability was chosen as a method for testing the
stability and reliability of cardiorespiratory fitness field-based
tests over time. Test-retest reproducibility or consistency
over time is a key aspect of reliability because it is critical for
evaluating whether an observed change is real (14). The
problem with testing reliability through the test-retest
method is the length of time between test administrations.
The length of time should be short enough, so that the
examinees’ skills in the area being assessed have not changed
because of additional learning. However, a very short time
interval makes the carryover effects due to memory, practice,
or mood more likely. Conversely, a long time interval in-
creases the likelihood that a change in status may occur
(1). In this regard, most researchers have chosen an interval
ranging from 2 days to 2 weeks. This time frame is generally
believed to be a reasonable compromise between recollec-
tion bias and unwanted (on the part of the investigator)
clinical change (20). In this study, it was decided to carry
out the measurements using the same cardiorespiratory fit-
ness field-based tests on 3 occasions and 7 days apart. This
time interval was chosen because, on functional tests,
a period of 1 week was considered sufficient to analyze their
test-retest reliability without introducing additional error due
to maturation (19). Performance of 3 trials was considered
convenient because, when testing reliability by means of the
test-retest method, it increases the potential for learning,
carryover, or recall effects (i.e., the first test may influence
the second) (1). Performance of 3 trials seems to be a frequent
choice when analyzing field-based test reliability on pre-
school children (3,28).
Thus, tests were carried out in three stages. The first stage
was used for the introduction and explanation of the tests
with the aim of obtaining the right performance on the part
of children participants and avoiding a possible learning
effect. The results in each test for this first attempt were not
taken into account for further analysis. The second stage was
used as a test phase and the third stage as a retest phase.
Comparing the scores of the second and third stages for
each performance allowed us to analyze the reliability of
cardiorespiratory fitness field-based tests.
In this study, the age and sex of the sample have been
considered as independent variables, whereas the cardiore-
spiratory fitness level is recognized as the dependent variable
assessed through Course-Navette, Mini-Cooper, and
3-minute shuttle run tests. The study of the reliability of
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health-related fitness tests can be affected by systematic bias
(i.e., participants who show boredom or lack of motivation
when performing the same test on several occasions) and
random change (random error of measurement, which is
greater in smaller samples) (19). According to this, it was
decided that the participants should carry out a third car-
diorespiratory fitness field-based test whose reliability was
established beforehand. In this regard, the 3-minute shuttle
run test has shown an acceptable reliability level when as-
sessing cardiorespiratory fitness in kindergarten children
(24). Therefore, as a way of reinforcing the reliability study
of Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper when administering
them to young children, the degree of association of both
tests with the 3-minute shuttle run was taken into account.
Calculation of the potential sample for the reliability study
resulted in a sample size of 97 individuals, established
through a reliability level (confidence interval [CI]) of 95%
(1 2 a), an accuracy of 96% (d), and having considered a 4%
of the proportion. We have taken into account an expected
5% loss in the calculation.
Subjects
The participants were 97 healthy Spanish urban children
between 4 and 5 years old recruited from a kindergarten
located in the North of Spain. Those who were enrolled in
the second year of the initial stage of the Spanish Education
Curriculum and did not show any type of pathology that
could prevent practice of aerobic physical exercise, as well as
participation in evaluation tests, were deemed eligible for the
study. At the end of the research, data were collected from
48 boys (mean age: 4.4 6 0.5 years; mean body mass index
[BMI]: 16.04 6 1.52 kg$m22) and 49 girls (mean age: 4.3 6
0.4 years; mean BMI: 16.48 6 1.04 kg$m22).
Parental permission and child assent were obtained after
stakeholders were informed that they could decide whether
or not to take part in the study, what the objectives were,
and the possible risks and benefits. The study was conducted
according to the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol
was fully approved by the local Research Ethics Committee
before initiating the assessment.
Procedure
Research took place during the second term of the academic
year 2013 or 2014, and all tests were carried out during the
2 weekly sessions of psychomotricity in which children were
participating as part of the preschool academic curriculum in
Spain. Such sessions, which were aimed at the development
of basic motor skills (balancing, throwing, jumping, etc.),
took place three hours after the children started their school
day and were carried out with a 3-day interval between
them. Participants were not allowed to drink or eat two
hours before the assessment sessions, which were performed
in groups of 10 children in 6-week blocks. One kindergarten
teacher and 1 preschool teacher controlled and supervised
the assessment sessions. Two senior students of the Degree
in Early Childhood Education were put in charge of test
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 Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Preschool

administration. Their speciality was Physical Education;
therefore, they were familiar with test protocols.
To measure the weight and height of the participants,
a digital scale (Tefal PP1200VO, Barcelona, Spain) and
a portable statimeter (Seca 225, Hamburg, Germany) were
used. Body mass index was calculated dividing the body
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time on 2 successive shuttles or if he or she withdrew vol-
untarily. Scores were recorded as the last level and shuttle
students could reach in the test and then were converted to
the number of seconds completed to provide a continuous
variable for analysis.
In the case of Mini-Cooper, children had to move around

weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared a rectangle mark on the ground as fast as possible for
(kg$m22). Measurements took place during the first assess- a 6-minute period. Said rectangle was 18 3 9 m. Both run-
ment session of the first week. For this, children were asked ning and walking were allowed. The test item score was the
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to wear light clothing and remove their shoes. distance (in meters) covered in the 6-minute period. Again,
Throughout the first and the second sessions of the first classes were divided into smaller groups to complete the test.
week, children were told how to perform both the Mini- For the 3-minute shuttle run test, 2 poles (1.5 m in height)
Cooper and the 3-minute shuttle run tests. In the first session were placed 10 m apart to form a straight 10-m-long running
of the second week, the Course-Navette test was explained track. Children had to run from one side to the other, go
and carried out, and during the second session, typical around the pole, and then return to the starting point. The
psychomotricity activities were developed. This first stage score was the distance (in meters) covered in 3 minutes.
was considered as a familiarization phase, which helped to
Statistical Analyses
avoid the learning effect in subsequent assessments. In the
A descriptive analysis (mean 6 SD and median) was applied
first session of the third week, the pupil did the Mini-Cooper
in relation to the age and sex of the participants. Student’s t-
test and, in the second session, the 3-minute shuttle run test.
test for independent data was used to verify differences
During the first session of the fourth week, the Course-
between variables. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)
Navette test was performed. The second research stage was
and CI were used to assess the reliability of the three tests.
regarded as the test phase. The fifth and sixth weeks
Pearson’s correlation analysis, developed by stratifying the
followed the same structure as the third and fourth, which
analysis according to the children’s age, was also applied to
involved Mini-Cooper, 3-minute shuttle run, and Course-
determine the degree of correlation between Mini-Cooper,
Navette in the same order referred earlier. The third research
Course-Navette, and 3-minute shuttle run tests.
stage was considered as the retest phase.
Statistical significance determined a priori was set at p #
When performing Course-Navette, children were
0.05 for all statistical tests. All statistical analyses were per-
required to run and shuttle back between 2 lines placed
formed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 19 (SPSS
20 m apart, at increasing speeds. The running speed
Inc.; Chicago, IL, USA), and a linear statistical model was
started at 8.5 km h21 and rose gradually at the rate of
considered for the analysis.
0.5 km$h21$min21. Each speed increase corresponded to
a level change. Classes were divided into smaller groups to
complete the test, and the teacher ran with the students in RESULTS
the first level only. The test ended either when the student Descriptive statistics is reported in Table 1. No difference
was not able to reach the end of the track within the given emerged in relation to sex (data not shown).

TABLE 1. Characteristics and mean values obtained by the sample.

4 y (n = 62) 5 y (n = 35)

Mean 6 SD (median) Mean 6 SD (median)

Height (m) 1.08 6 0.04 (1.08) 1.13 6 0.05* (1.13)

Weight (kg) 19.49 6 2.37 (19.20) 20.17 6 2.99 (19.60)
Body mass index (kg$m22) 16.57 6 1.04 (16.47) 15.73 6 1.56* (15.80)
Mini-Cooper test (m) 666.71 6 134.18 (540.20) 673.37 6 120.93 (648.00)
Mini-Cooper retest (m) 660.84 6 137.63 (763.38) 675.54 6 141.97 (649.65)
3-minute shuttle run test (m) 279.19 6 37.69 (280.00) 309.71 6 46.24* (320.00)
3-minute shuttle run retest (m) 296.13 6 39.99 (300) 310.57 6 45.43 (280)
Course-Navette test (s) 37.38 6 19.73 (41.00) 67.46 6 40.05* (50.00)
Course-Navette retest (s) 42.43 6 20.07 (50.00) 71.03 6 34.63* (58.00)

*p # 0.05.

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r = 0.532; sig = 0.001) and in

the retest (r = 0.695; sig =
TABLE 2. Tests reliability.*
0.001 or r = 0.541; sig =
4y 5y 0.008) phase.

ICC (95% CI) ICC (95% CI) DISCUSSION

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Mini-Cooper test-retest (m) 0.942 (0.903–0.965) 0.946 (0.893–0.973) The present results showed
3-minute shuttle run 0.818 (0.697–0.890) 0.916 (0.934–0.958) satisfactory test-retest reliabil-
test-retest (m) ity for both the Course-Navette
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Course-Navette test-retest (s) 0.909 (0.849–0.945)
*ICC = intraclass correlation coefficient; CI = confidence interval.
All tests showed a high reliability (8.18 , ICC . 9.46; p #
0.005) as shown in Table 2.
Table 3 refers the degree of association between Mini-
Cooper and Course-Navette tests with respect to the
3-minute shuttle test. Mean scores of the 3-minute shuttle
run test did not show any significant correlation with the
mean scores obtained in Mini-Cooper test and Course-
Navette test in the case of 4-year-old children. Comparison
of mean scores in the second attempt indicated that Mini-
Cooper (retest) and Course-Navette (retest) showed a degree
of correlation for the same age group (r = 0.358; sig = 0.004
and r = 0.397; sig = 0.001, respectively). In the case of 5-year-
old children, Mini-Cooper and Course-Navette also showed
correlation both in the test (r = 0.693; sig = 0.001 or
0.889 (0.780–0.944) and Mini-Cooper tests. This
study corroborates previous
findings (11,21) and adds fur-
ther information relative to
test-retest reliability. Indeed,
Niederer et al. (21) found that
reliability of the Course-Navette was high for children aged
4–6 years old, but they only included 20 people in their pilot
study and no further data were provided. Similarly, Reeves
et al. (27) analyzed reliability for the case of Progressive
Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER), an adap-
ted version of Course-Navette for children aged 5 to 6.
Nevertheless, the authors restricted themselves to reporting
that no significant differences had been observed between
PACER’s test and retest. It should be kept in mind that no
analysis was offered for test reliability, and no comment was
made concerning the age of the 17 participants. In this line,
Fjørtoft et al. (11) study the reliability of Mini-Cooper in
a group of children between 5 and 12 years old. However,
they only included a sample of 21 children aged 5, and no

TABLE 3. Tests association.*

3-minute shuttle run test (m) Mini-Cooper test (m)

Association statistics (test)

4 years
Mini-Cooper test (m) r = 0.165; sig = 0.201
3-minute shuttle run test (m)
Course-Navette test (s) r = 0.073; sig = 0.573 r = 20.235; sig = 0.066
5 years
Mini-Cooper test (m) r = 0.693; sig = 0.001
3-minute shuttle run test (m)
Course-Navette test (s) r = 0.532; sig = 0.001 r = 0.709; sig = 0.001
Association statistics (retest)
4 years
Mini-Cooper retest (m) r = 0.358; sig = 0.004
3-minute shuttle run retest (m)
Course-Navette retest (s) r = 0.397; sig = 0.001 r = 20.046; sig = 0.721
5 years
Mini-Cooper retest (m) r = 0.695; sig = 0.001
3-minute shuttle run retest (m)
Course-Navette retest (s) r = 0.541; sig = 0.008 r = 0.497; sig = 0.002

*r = Pearson’s correlation coefficient.

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 Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Preschool
information of test reliability was provided in this specific
age group. These findings are of interest for health profes-
sionals and preschool teachers. Nevertheless, although it has
been suggested that this kind of tests has a fair amount of
content (logical) validity because of their natural association
with aerobic exercise, they may lack evidence of concurrent
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validity (28). Thus, the important diagnostic information
that can be provided by Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper
when administered to preschoolers is limited.
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A standard procedure for determining the concurrent
validity of a distance run test is to correlate the scores of the
test with an indicator of cardiorespiratory function, such as
maximal oxygen consumption. To the authors’ knowledge,
no study regarding the validity of a field-based test for pre-
dicting this physiological variable following such procedure
with children under 6 years old has been published. This
may be due to the inherent difficulties of carrying out this
type of research with children of such a young age, among
them, parents’ reluctance to allow their children to partici-
pate in experimental settings when invasive methods are
applied or some attendant risks might be present, children’s
motivation, and that test procedure may not reflect their
naturally intermittent movement pattern. In this research,
the extent to which Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper
showed some degree of association with the 3-minute shut-
tle run test was analyzed to provide further information
about their usefulness with preschool children. Although
a familiarization stage has been included, lack of a significant
association between successive performances of the 3-
minute run test and the other 2 field tests in 4-year-old
children deserves further consideration. In particular, it has
been suggested that tolerance level to exercise in very young
children may be the result of emotional factors rather than
real fatigue (8). Therefore, we can speculate that the
3-minute test could be more feasible and attractive for little
children than Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper. A possible
explanation for this lack of correlation in the younger group
could be due to difficulties in understanding and correctly
performing both tests in their first attempts. Indeed, this
population would need at least 3 familiarization sessions
before their cardiorespiratory fitness is assessed by means
of maximal effort tests (22). Actually, some problems may
also arise when administering field tests in preschool set-
tings. In particular, during the execution of Course-
Navette, some children hardly completed 1 or 2 shuttles,
perhaps because the 20-m distance is excessive for preschool
children and not because their cardiorespiratory fitness is in
any way limited. In this regard, it would be interesting to
study the applicability of a shuttle run test over a short dis-
tance, as it has been proposed with other populations that
presented limitations in the face of longer distances (10).
Alternatively, the initial running speed could be lowered
without affecting test reliability, as a recent study, which
was published after the present research was concluded,
has shown. (6).
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Similarly, during Mini-Cooper, some children chose to
slow down and run along with another peer, especially if
they were in first place. Keeping this in mind, it could be
discussed whether it is important to raise the children’s
awareness about the need to evaluate their maximum effort
capacity by telling them that their position, relative to that of
their peers, is going to be assessed (3). Nevertheless, it is
necessary to remark that none of the children disengaged
running or stopped prematurely during the tests, a situation
that seems likely to occur when assessing cardiorespiratory
fitness with this population (25).
Finally, it seems necessary to point out that average values
obtained by preschoolers in this set of field-based tests might
be considered as relatively low, judging by the information
that is available on the topic. An instance of this would be the
fact that the average distance achieved in 3-minute shuttle run
tests was about 30 m below that attested in other research
performed with children of the same age (4,24). This could be
because of BMI differences between sample populations,
given the inverse relationship of BMI with cardiorespiratory
fitness level (18). In fact, if Center for Disease Control and
Prevention growth charts are taken as a reference (23), chil-
dren aged 4 and 5 in this study would be placed around
percentiles 60 and 75 for the BMI variable. Equivalent sam-
ples in the above mentioned pieces of research, however,
were around, or even below, percentile 50. Nevertheless, ac-
cording to Ballabeina (21), preschoolers who underwent
Course-Navette testing reached an average duration of about
3 minutes, which is almost 3 times higher than the result of
this study, despite BMI being similar. These differences may
be due to other directly related aspects, such as children’s
capacity to pace themselves, motor competence, or motiva-
tion, all of them inherent to test administration.
There are few field tests aimed at the assessment of
cardiorespiratory fitness in children aged four and five.
Despite this, the 3-minute shuttle run, which has been used
in this study, and the run/walk tests in distances of 1 mile, 3
quarters of a mile, and half a mile have proved to be
advantageous under certain conditions (28). Although
Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper showed satisfactory levels
of test-retest reliability, we must acknowledge limitations in
their validity, a factor that has not yet been sufficiently stud-
ied. Reliability, however, is a key factor in fitness testing.
Both Course-Navette and Mini-Cooper are running perfor-
mance tests. Indeed, running performance is a fundamental
health component (26), as it provides testers with an accu-
rate measure of physical work capacity. Although this study
has not focused on validity analysis, the use of running per-
formance tests with preschoolers seems to be an appropriate
choice.
Still, these results are to be interpreted in the light of their
limitations, such as the lack of information regarding
maturity levels of the sample population, and the influence
the examiner may have had in test assessment and perfor-
mance (interrater reliability).

In closing, the results of this study suggest that Course-
Navette and Mini-Cooper are reliable measures of cardiore-
spiratory fitness that can be used to assess health-related
fitness in preschool children. Furthermore, studies should
aim at identifying the validity of both tests with this type of
population.
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PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
The results of this study contribute to enhance the scientific
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evidence regarding reliability of common cardiorespiratory
field-based tests when administered in a preschool setting.
The implication for practitioners using Course-Navette and
Mini-Cooper with children between the ages of 3 and 6 is
that both seem to be reliable field-based tests of cardiore-
spiratory fitness for that particular age group. This informa-
tion can be useful for health and physical education
professionals because, by administering these tests, they
can collect reliable longitudinal data that may provide
valuable information about changes in the level of cardiore-
spiratory fitness of children over a period of time. These data
can be used to plan prophylactic interventions in a group
level or to evaluate the effects of such interventions (11). In
this sense, the strength and conditioning professionals need
to identify a physical fitness profile to be used as a reference
when evaluating the cardiorespiratory fitness level in young
children. Although the results presented here cannot be con-
sidered normative data, they can be used for such purposes.
In this way, once the scores have been interpreted, they may
be used to track fitness changes over time, to evaluate the
effectiveness of training programs, or even to screen children
in search of future talents. In addition, if results are consid-
ered reliable and valid, they could have further applications,
such as the design of a health and fitness archetype for
young children, which is supported by values obtained
through the performance of field-based tests. In future, this
could prove to be a very productive line of research.
Finally, useful advice for practitioners who decide to
administer these tests can be derived from this study. For
instance, it seems necessary in Course-Navette that an adult
runs along with the children to provide encouragement and
motivation. In the same line, running at top speed for
6 minutes might be a difficult and abstract concept for the
test population, whereas inability to cope with breathless-
ness and fatigue and lack of knowledge about pace are other
important issues to consider when conducting Mini-Cooper
test. Bearing this in mind, and based on the experience of
this research, it seems that the 3-minute shuttle run is the
test that young children understood better and performed
more efficiently.
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