Wheelchair Shuttle Ride Test (SRiT)
This test is a wheelchair version of the modified 10m beep test for people with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The test is designed for children with CP classified at levels III and IV on the Gross Motor Function Classification System.
test purpose: to evaluate physical fitness of wheelchair users.
equipment required: cones, flat hard surface, audio recording (create your own using the team beeptest software)
pre-test: Explain the test procedures to the subject. Perform screening of health risks and obtain informed consent. Prepare forms and record basic information such as age, gender, test conditions. Measure and mark out the test area. Perform an appropriate warm-up. See more details of pre-test procedures.
procedure: participants are required to propel their wheelchair between 2 markers 10m apart, at a set incremental speed determined by an audio signal. The starting speed, as indicated by the beep, is 2 km/h, which is increased by 0.25 km/h every minute. This is a maximal test, the participants are required to continue to exhaustion. Strong verbal encouragement may be required. The test is finished when, on 2 consecutive beeps, the participants were more than 1.5 m away from the marker. Total exercise time and heart rate at the end of the test are recorded.
scoring: The score is the number of exercise level achieved before they were unable to keep up with the recording. Heart rate and subjective assessment (e.g. sweating, facial flushing, inability to propel the wheelchair), is used to determine if maximal effort was achieved.
target population: It is a test of aerobic fitness for people in wheelchairs, described specifically for people with cerebral palsy (CP).
advantages: this test is more cost-effective and easier to administer than the alternative laboratory fitness tests that are usually required to test the fitness of wheelchair users. If space allows, multiple participants may be tested at once.
disadvantages: as with the running beep test, practice and motivation levels can influence the score attained, and the scoring can be subjective. Wheelchair skill and technique may also affect the level achieved.
comments:
- The participants are allowed to use their own personal wheelchair. The weight and description of the chair should be recorded each time, and ideally the same chair should be used for any subsequent retesting.
- Note that the beep test recording for this test uses different timings than the standard beep test.
test reference: Olaf Verschuren, Maremka Zwinkels, Marjolijn Ketelaar, Femke Reijnders-van Son, Tim Takken: Reproducibility and Validity of the 10-Meter Shuttle Ride Test in Wheelchair-Using Children and Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy. Physical Therapy, Volume 93, Issue 7, 1 July 2013, Pages 967–974.
Similar Tests
- 12 minute Wheelchair Aerobic Test
- 10m Beep Test — 10m multi-stage walking shuttle test for children with cerebral palsy.
- Multistage Field Test (MFT) for wheelchair users
- 20m shuttle run test (beep test) — the standard multi-stage shuttle run 'beep' test, a maximal aerobic test which involves running back and forth over 20m in time to recorded beeps.
Related Pages
- Testing the Disabled
- More Modified Beep Tests
- The complete guide to the beep test for links to more information.
- A Multistage Field Test (MFT) for wheelchair users
- Video of a wheelchair VO2max test
- Beep test variations
- More tests for special populations
- Team BeepTest software — the beep test on your computer
- About Sports for the Disabled
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