title: Incremental value of Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire and the YMCA-step test for the assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness in population-based studies.
abstract: Cardiorespiratory fitness is a well-established independent predictor of cardiovascular health. However, the relevance of alternative exercise and non-exercise tests for cardiorespiratory fitness assessment in large cohorts has not been studied in detail. We aimed to evaluate the YMCA-step test and the Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ) for the estimation of cardiorespiratory fitness in the general population.
  
  
  
  One hundred and five subjects answered the VSAQ, performed the YMCA-step test and a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX) and gave BORG ratings for both exercise tests (BORGSTEP, BORGCPX). Correlations of peak oxygen uptake on a treadmill (VO2_PEAK) with VSAQ, BORGSTEP, one-minute, post-exercise heartbeat count, and peak oxygen uptake during the step test (VO2_STEP) were determined. Moreover, the incremental values of the questionnaire and the step test in addition to other fitness-related parameters were evaluated using block-wise hierarchical regression analysis.
  
  
  
  Eighty-six subjects completed the step test according to the protocol. For completers, correlations of VO2_PEAK with the age- and gender-adjusted VSAQ, heartbeat count and VO2_STEP were 0.67, 0.63 and 0.49, respectively. However, using hierarchical regression analysis, age, gender and body mass index already explained 68.8% of the variance of VO2_PEAK, while the additional benefit of VSAQ was rather low (3.4%). The inclusion of BORGSTEP, heartbeat count and VO2_STEP increased R(2) by a further 2.2%, 3.3% and 5.6%, respectively, yielding a total R(2) of 83.3%.
  
  
  
  Neither VSAQ nor the YMCA-step test contributes sufficiently to the assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness in population-based studies.
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Heart Centre University of Leipzig, Germany ateren@life.uni-leipzig.de.
authors.forename: Andrej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teren
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zachariae
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Heart Centre University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Beutner
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Heart Centre University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Romy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ubrich
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine/Cardiology, Heart Centre University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandri
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Löffler
authors.affiliation: LIFE - Leipzig Research Centre for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Germany Department of Internal Medicine III, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, University Hospital Halle/Saale, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gielen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014728:Veterans; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cardiorespiratory fitness; VSAQ questionnaire; YMCA-step test; peak oxygen uptake