A 6-minute walk test is performed as a general stamina test as part of the physical fitness test program of the Ministry of Education and Science, but this test presents problems when performed as a field test: it is timeconsuming and restricted by the location of testing and weather. To evaluate a shuttle stamina test (SSTw) as a substitute for the 6-minute walk test, both tests were performed on healthy persons aged 65 to 78 years (18 males and 11 females) who did not take physical exercise regularly. The following results were obtained.
1. There was a significant correlation between SSTw and the 6-minute walk test (coefficient of correlation r = 0.868 (p<0.05)). The linear regression equation was y = 1.98X+111.83.
2. An additional test was performed on 54 elderly persons (32 males and 22 females) to determine interchangeability. The 30m estimates calculated by the regression equation tended to be higher than observed values obtained in the 6-minute walk test regardless of sex, but there was a significant correlation between estimated and observed values (r = 0.797 (p<0.05)).
These results suggest that SSTw could be used as a substitute for the 6-minute walk test.
