The validity and reliability of a novel mobile app to measure agility performance in the physically active youth population

Juan A. Escobar Álvarez; Rocío Carrasco-Zahínos; Pedro R.  Olivares; Sebastián  Feu; Robinson Ramírez-Velez; Miguel Ángel Pérez Sousa

doi:10.21134/eurjhm.2020.45.9

Authors

Juan A. Escobar Álvarez Faculty of Higher Education, South Essex College University Centre, Southend on the Sea, UK
Rocío Carrasco-Zahínos Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Pedro R. Olivares Facultad de Educación, Psicología y Ciencias del Deporte, Universidad de Huelva, Spain, Instituto de Actividad Física y Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Chile
Sebastián Feu Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Robinson Ramírez-Velez Navarrabiomed-Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra (CHN), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, Spain; CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
Miguel Ángel Pérez Sousa Universidad de Extremadura

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21134/eurjhm.2020.45.9

Keywords:

app, agility, validity, reliability

Abstract

Agility is a key component of physical fitness in adolescents. However, the measurement of this variable is usually complex, requiring high cost instruments and complex software. To test the validity and reliability of a novel iPhone app (Lap Tracker Auto-timer) to measure agility performance among adolescents. Twenty-four physically active adolescents (15.7 ± 2.3 years old) participated in two testing sessions (separated by 7 days). They performed three 4 x 10 m agility test trials measured by Photocell or the iPhone app. The correlation analysis revealed high validity (r = .92; 95% confidence interval [CI] = .88 – .95), with a standard error of the estimate of 0.56 s (p < 0.001). The coefficient of variation (CV; 0.09) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC; .93; 95% CI = .85 – .97) showed an acceptable reliability. This study demonstrated that the iPhone App Lap Tracker Auto-timer could be a valid, reliable and low-cost tool to evaluate agility performance in adolescents. However, more studies are required to guarantee the utility of this app.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Balsalobre-Fernández, C., Bishop, C., Beltrán-Garrido, J. V., Cecilia-Gallego, P., Cuenca-Amigó, A., Romero-Rodriguez, D., & Madruga-Parera, M. (2019). The validity and reliability of a novel app for the measurement of change of direction performance Design and validation of smartphone and wearable technologies View project Chronic patellar tendinopathy in athletes: the effects of strength training progr. Article in Journal of Sports Sciences, 00(00), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1640029

Balsalobre-Fernández, C., Bishop, C., Beltrán-Garrido, J. V., Cecilia-Gallego, P., Cuenca-Amigó, A., Romero-Rodríguez, D., & Madruga-Parera, M. (2019). The validity and reliability of a novel app for the measurement of change of direction performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1640029

Balsalobre-Fernandez, C., Glaister, M., & Lockey, R. A. (2015). The validity and reliability of an iPhone app for measuring vertical jump performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.996184

Balsalobre-Fernández, C., Glaister, M., & Lockey, R. A. (2015). The validity and reliability of an iPhone app for measuring vertical jump performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(15), 1574–1579. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.996184

Bond, C. W., Willaert, E. M., Rudningen, K. E., & Noonan, B. C. (2017). Reliability of Three Timing Systems Used to Time Short on Ice-Skating Sprints in Ice Hockey Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(12), 3279–3286. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002218

Brunet, M., Chaput, J.-P., & Tremblay, A. (2007). The association between low physical fitness and high body mass index or waist circumference is increasing with age in children: the ‘Québec en Forme’ Project. International Journal of Obesity, 31(4), 637–643. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803448

Castro-Piñero, J., González-Montesinos, J. L., Mora, J., Keating, X. D., Girela-Rejón, M. J., Sjöström, M., & Ruiz, J. R. (2009). Percentile values for muscular strength field tests in children aged 6 to 17 years: influence of weight status. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(8), 2295–2310. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b8d5c1

Cruvinel-Cabral, R. M., Oliveira-Silva, I., Medeiros, A. R., Claudino, J. G., Jiménez-Reyes, P., & Boullosa, D. A. (2018). The validity and reliability of the “ My Jump App ” for measuring jump height of the elderly . PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5804

Freitas, T., Alcaraz, P., Bishop, C., Calleja-González, J., Arruda, A., Guerriero, A., … Loturco, I. (2018). Change of Direction Deficit in National Team Rugby Union Players: Is There an Influence of Playing Position? Sports, 7(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7010002

García López, J., Morante Rábago, J. C., Ogueta-Alday, A., González Lázaro, J., Rodríguez Marroyo, J. A., & Villa Vicente, J. G. (2012). El uso de fotocélulas de haz simple y doble para medir la velocidad en carreras®. The use of single- and dual-beam photocells to measure the sprint time®. RICYDE. Revista Internacional de Ciencias Del Deporte., 8(30), 324–333. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.5232/ricyde2012.03003

Hopkins, W. G. (2015). Spreadsheets for analysis of validity and reliability. Sportscience, 19, 36–42.

Hopkins, William G., Marshall, S. W., Batterham, A. M., & Hanin, J. (2009). Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 41(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818cb278

Koo, T. K., & Li, M. Y. (2016). A Guideline of Selecting and Reporting Intraclass Correlation Coefficients for Reliability Research. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 15(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012

Lamprea, J. A., & Gómez-Restrepo, C. (2007). Validez en la evaluación de escalas. Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría, 36(2), 340–348.

Lloyd, R. S., Oliver, J. L., Radnor, J. M., Rhodes, B. C., Faigenbaum, A. D., & Myer, G. D. (2015). Relationships between functional movement screen scores, maturation and physical performance in young soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33(1), 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.918642

Muntaner-Mas, A., Martinez-Nicolas, A., Lavie, C. J., Blair, S. N., Ross, R., Arena, R., & Ortega, F. B. (2019). A Systematic Review of Fitness Apps and Their Potential Clinical and Sports Utility for Objective and Remote Assessment of Cardiorespiratory Fitness. Sports Medicine, 49(4), 587–600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01084-y

Nachtsheim, C. J., Neter, J., Li, W., & Kutner, M. H. (2004). Applied linear statistical models. Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A General. https://doi.org/10.2307/2984653

Nimphius, S., Callaghan, S. J., Bezodis, N. E., & Lockie, R. G. (2018). Change of Direction and Agility Tests: Challenging Our Current Measures of Performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal. https://doi.org/10.1519/SSC.0000000000000309

Norton, K., Whittingham, N., Carter, J., Kerr, D., Gore, C., & Marfell-Jones, M. (1996). Anthropometrica : a textbook of body measurement for sports and health courses. Sydney: UNSW Press.

Peart, D. J., Balsalobre-Fernández, C., & Shaw, M. P. (2017). The Use of Mobile Applications to Collect Data in Sport, Health and Exercise Science. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002344

Perez-Sousa, M. A., Olivares, P. R., Escobar-Alvarez, J. A., Parraça, J. A., & Gusi, N. (2018). Fitness as mediator between weight status and dimensions of health-related quality of life. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 16(1), 155. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-018-0981-0

Romero-Franco, N., Jiménez-Reyes, P., Castaño-Zambudio, A., Capelo-Ramírez, F., Rodríguez-Juan, J. J., González-Hernández, J., … Balsalobre-Fernández, C. (2017). Sprint performance and mechanical outputs computed with an iPhone app: Comparison with existing reference methods. European Journal of Sport Science, 17(4), 386–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2016.1249031

Ruiz, J. R., Castro-Pinero, J., Espana-Romero, V., Artero, E. G., Ortega, F. B., Cuenca, M. M., … Castillo, M. J. (2011). Field-based fitness assessment in young people: the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery for children and adolescents. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 45(6), 518–524. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2010.075341

Samozino, P., Rabita, G., Dorel, S., Slawinski, J., Peyrot, N., Saez de Villarreal, E., & Morin, J.-B. (2016). A simple method for measuring power, force, velocity properties, and mechanical effectiveness in sprint running. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 26(6), 648–658. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12490

Scanlan, A. T., Tucker, P. S., & Dalbo, V. J. (2014). A Comparison of Linear Speed, Closed-Skill Agility, and Open-Skill Agility Qualities Between Backcourt and Frontcourt Adult Semiprofessional Male Basketball Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(5), 1319–1327. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000276

Sheppard, J., & Young, W. (2006). Agility literature review: Classifications, training and testing. Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(9), 919–932. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410500457109

Sheppard, Jeremy, Dawes, J. J., Jeffreys, I., Spiteri, T., & Nimphius, S. (2014). Broadening The View Of Agility: A Scientific Review Of The Literature. ECU Publications Post 2013. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/608

Stanton, R., Hayman, M., Humphris, N., Borgelt, H., Fox, J., Del Vecchio, L., & Humphries, B. (2016). Validity of a Smartphone-Based Application for Determining Sprinting Performance. Journal of Sports Medicine (Hindawi Publishing Corporation), 2016, 7476820. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/7476820

Valdez-Ramírez, P., Ramírez-Tule, C., García-García, A., & Talamantes-López, J. (2009). Ritmos circadianos en la eficiencia para responder en una prueba de ejecución continua. Revista Mexicana de Análisis de La Conducta, 35(1), 75–91.

Vicente-Rodríguez, G., Rey-López, J. P., Ruíz, J. R., Jiménez-Pavón, D., Bergman, P., Ciarapica, D., … HELENA Study Group. (2011). Interrater Reliability and Time Measurement Validity of Speed–Agility Field Tests in Adolescents. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(7), 2059–2063. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e742fe

Walker, O. (2016). Agilidad | Ciencia para el deporte.

Weir, J. P. (2005). Quantifying test-retest reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient and the SEM. J Strength Cond Res, 19, 231–240. https://doi.org/15184 [pii] 10.1519/15184.1 [doi]