Feasibility and reliability of the Assessing Levels of Physical Activity health-related fitness test battery in adults with intellectual disabilities.
Only three ALPHA-Fit subtests give stable scores for adults with ID—drop the rest and you still get solid fitness data.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tried the full ALPHA-Fit fitness battery on the adults with intellectual disability. They asked: can clients finish every test, and do scores stay the same if we repeat them?
Tests ranged from simple (height, weight) to tough (2-km walk, agility run). Staff gave each test twice, one week apart, to check reliability.
What they found
Eight of ten tests were doable, but only three gave steady numbers. Body-composite measures (BMI, waist) were rock-solid for everyone.
Grip strength worked for men, curl-ups worked for women. The 2-km walk and agility test scores jumped around too much to trust.
How this fits with other research
Arnold et al. (2026) also asked if adults with ID can handle standard activity tools. They found two-thirds met valid wear time with hip accelerometers, showing some tools do work when you pick the right one.
Leung et al. (2017) warned that accelerometer protocols vary wildly and compliance is low. R et al. now show the same mess happens with field fitness tests—only select subtests hold up.
Lennon et al. (2015) threw out the 6-minute walk for adults with CP because scores were unreliable. R et al. mirror that verdict: long walking tests flop in ID adults too.
Why it matters
You can shorten your assessment battery tomorrow. Stick to BMI, waist, hand-grip for men, and curl-ups for women; skip the walk and agility tests. You will save time, reduce client frustration, and still walk away with data you can trust.
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Swap your full battery for BMI, waist, grip, and curl-ups; note the change in your assessment plan.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) seem to have a lower physical fitness (PF) than their peers without disabilities, which coincides with reduced autonomy, life expectancy and quality of life. To assess PF in these individuals, it is necessary to use appropriate tools that permit the assessment of their physical capacities taking into account their specific characteristics. The aim of this work is to study the feasibility and reliability of the Assessing Levels of Physical Activity (ALPHA)-Fit test battery for adults in a group of men and women with mild to moderate ID. METHODS: Forty-one adults with ID of both sexes, ranging in age from 20 to 60 years old, participated in the study. To identify the feasibility and reliability of the ALPHA-Fit test battery for adults, two complete assessments were done for each one of the tests included in the battery. The assessments were performed for a period of no more than 2 weeks (test-retest). An intraclass correlation coefficient was used to determinate test-retest reliability, and a mixed analysis of variance factorial was used for each of the dependent variables. Bland-Altman plots were also used to assess consistency between the two measurements. Feasibility was calculated as the percentage of people who were able to perform the tests correctly (not feasible <50%, fairly feasible 50%-75% and feasible >75%). In order to determine other psychometric properties, minimal detectable change and standard error of measurement (SEM) were also calculated. RESULTS: Of the 10 tests in the ALPHA-Fit test battery, eight were shown to be feasible. High reliability was obtained (>0.90) for the variables related to body composition. In the hand-grip test, reliability was high in the men's group but low in the women's group. Good reliability results were also found (0.80-0.89) in the dynamic sit-up test for women, but not for men. Fair reliability (0.70-0.79) was found in jump-and-reach and neck-shoulder mobility tests. The variables in the 2-km walk and agility tests indicated poor reliability. All tests showed SEM values related to high variability. However, Bland-Altman plots showed results related to lack of consistency. CONCLUSIONS: The feasibility and reliability calculations, as well as the SEM values, confirm that not all the tests of the ALPHA-Fit Test Battery for Adults are suitable for the assessment of PF in adults with ID, probably because of the complexity of the motor fitness tests. The authors emphasise the necessity of making adaptations to the protocols used or of using other tests more appropriate to the characteristics of people with mild to moderate ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12756