The Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment Work Simulator: reliability and validity at three work intensities.

To determine test-retest reliability and criterion validity of the Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment Work Simulator (BTE), 30 male volunteers, 18 to 30 years, performed three criterion tasks at light (CL), medium (CM), and heavy (CH) levels of intensity and three corresponding simulated tasks (SL, SM, SH), all of which were repeated on a subsequent session. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were monitored continuously during these tasks. Correlation coefficients between trials of the same task for VO2 (r = .74-.87) and HR (r = .58-.78) indicated significant test-retest reliability. Although criterion-simulation correlation coefficients were significant, consistently high criterion validity was found only at CL-SL (VO2, r = .81 and .83; HR, r = .88 and .95). The nature of the task may have influenced CM-SM correlations. It also appears that subjects underestimated the amount of resistance required on the BTE to simulate CH. Caution is urged in making judgments about a subject's abilities to do real work at medium and heavy intensities based only on test results from the BTE.