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Test–Retest Reliability of the Yo-Yo Test: A Systematic Review

  • Systematic Review
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Abstract

Background

The Yo-Yo test is widely used both in the practical and research contexts; however, its true test–retest reliability remains unclear.

Objective

The present systematic review aims to identify studies that have examined the test–retest reliability of the Yo-Yo test and summarize their results.

Methods

A search of ten databases was performed to find studies that have investigated test–retest reliability of any variant of the Yo-Yo test. The COSMIN checklist was employed to assess the methodological quality of the included studies.

Results

Nineteen studies of excellent or moderate methodological quality were included. When considering all variants of the Yo-Yo test, the included studies reported intra-class correlation coefficients for test–retest reliability ranging from 0.78 to 0.98 where 62% of all intra-class correlation coefficients were higher than 0.90, while 97% of intra-class correlation coefficients were higher than 0.80. The coefficients of variation ranged from 3.7 to 19.0%. Regardless of the variant of the test, the participants’ familiarization with the test, and previous sport experience, the intra-class correlation coefficients generally seem high (≥ 0.90) and coefficients of variation low (< 10%).

Conclusions

The results of this review indicate that the Yo-Yo test (in all its variants) generally has good-to-excellent test–retest reliability. The evidence concerning reliability arises from 19 included studies that were of moderate or high methodological quality. Considering that most of the included studies examined the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test while including Association Football players, more reliability studies examining Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 test and Yo-Yo intermittent endurance level 1 and level 2 tests, and in the context of sports other than Association Football as well as in non-athletic populations, are required. Finally, future studies should explicitly state the type of intra-class correlation coefficient used for the reliability data analysis to allow for better between-study comparisons.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Jozo Grgic, Luca Oppici & Zeljko Pedisic

  2. Psychology of Learning and Instruction, Department of Psychology, School of Science, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Luca Oppici

  3. Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop (CeTI), Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Luca Oppici

  4. Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Pavle Mikulic

  5. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports (NEXS), University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    Jens Bangsbo

  6. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, Sport and Health Sciences Cluster (SHSC), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Peter Krustrup

  7. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Peter Krustrup

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  1. Jozo Grgic
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  2. Luca Oppici
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  4. Jens Bangsbo
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  6. Zeljko Pedisic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jozo Grgic.

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Funding

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this article.

Conflict of Interest

Jozo Grgic, Luca Oppici, Pavle Mikulic, Jens Bangsbo, Peter Krustrup, and Zeljko Pedisic have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

Author Contributions

JG and ZP conceived the idea for the review. JG and LO conducted the study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment. JG drafted the initial manuscript. LO, PM, JB, PK, and ZP contributed to writing the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Grgic, J., Oppici, L., Mikulic, P. et al. Test–Retest Reliability of the Yo-Yo Test: A Systematic Review. Sports Med 49, 1547–1557 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01143-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01143-4

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