Assessment of physical fitness during pregnancy: validity and reliability of fitness tests, and relationship with maternal and neonatal health – a systematic review
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
BMJ
Fecha
2022-09-23Referencia bibliográfica
Romero-Gallardo L... [et al.]. Assessment of physical fitness during pregnancy: validity and reliability of fitness tests, and relationship with maternal and neonatal health – a systematic review. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2022;8:e001318. doi:[10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001318]
Patrocinador
University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES); Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) SOMM17/6107/UGRResumen
Objectives To systematically review studies evaluating
one or more components of physical fitness (PF) in
pregnant women, to answer two research questions: (1)
What tests have been employed to assess PF in pregnant
women? and (2) What is the validity and reliability of these
tests and their relationship with maternal and neonatal
health?
Design A systematic review.
Data sources PubMed and Web of Science.
Eligibility criteria Original English or Spanish full-text
articles in a group of healthy pregnant women which at
least one component of PF was assessed (field based or
laboratory tests).
Results A total of 149 articles containing a sum of 191
fitness tests were included. Among the 191 fitness tests,
99 (ie, 52%) assessed cardiorespiratory fitness through 75
different protocols, 28 (15%) assessed muscular fitness
through 16 different protocols, 14 (7%) assessed flexibility
through 13 different protocols, 45 (24%) assessed balance
through 40 different protocols, 2 assessed speed with
the same protocol and 3 were multidimensional tests
using one protocol. A total of 19 articles with 23 tests
(13%) assessed either validity (n=4), reliability (n=6) or
the relationship of PF with maternal and neonatal health
(n=16).
Conclusion Physical fitness has been assessed through
a wide variety of protocols, mostly lacking validity and
reliability data, and no consensus exists on the most
suitable fitness tests to be performed during pregnancy.