• Karin Hesseberg, Hege Bentzen, and Astrid Bergland.
• Department of Physiotherapy, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway; Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
• Physiother Res Int. 2015 Mar 1; 20 (1): 37-44.

Background And PurposeIn older people with cognitive impairment, we require reliable and valid measures to assess physical fitness and to measure change, for example, as a result of an exercise intervention. The purpose of our study was to determine the relative and absolute test-retest reliability of the Senior Fitness Test (SFT) in older people with cognitive impairment.MethodsA test-retest reliability study was conducted for the Senior Fitness Test in older people with cognitive impairment. Participants were tested at two time points with a time interval of 24 hours to 1 week between tests. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient model 3.1 (ICC, 3.1) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was used as a measure of relative reliability. The standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change (MDC) were used to measure absolute reliability.ResultsThe ICC reflected very high reliability (0.93-0.98) in all SFT items, indicating that there was no systematic error in the measurements. MDC values at the 90% CIs were calculated: chair stand test = 2.0 repetitions, armcurl test = 2.3 repetitions, chair sit and reach test = 6.0 cm, back scratch test = 4.6 cm, 2.45-m up-and-go test = 1.4 seconds and 6-minute walk test = 37.1 metres.DiscussionThe SFT battery showed high to very high test-retest reliability and thus may be suitable for detecting changes in physical fitness and evaluating physical fitness in older people with cognitive impairment, both in research and for clinical purposes.Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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