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Ergonomics
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Assessment of physical fitness of sedentary and

physically active male college students by a modified
Harvard step test
a a
BISHANBINDU BANDYOPDHYAY & HARIPADA CHATTOPADHYAY
a
Department of Physiology , Presidency College , Calcutta, 700073, India
Published online: 27 Mar 2007.

To cite this article: BISHANBINDU BANDYOPDHYAY & HARIPADA CHATTOPADHYAY (1981) Assessment of physical fitness of
sedentary and physically active male college students by a modified Harvard step test, Ergonomics, 24:1, 15-20, DOI:
10.1080/00140138108924826

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140138108924826

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 ERGONOMICS, 1981, VOL. 24, NO. I, 15-20

Assessment of physical fitness of sedentary and physically active

male college students by a modified Harvard step test

By BISIIANBINDU BANDYOPADIIY AY and HARtPADA CIIATTOPADIIYA Y

Department of Physiology, Presidency College, Calculla-700073, India

Physical fitness was assessed in two groups of young college students, sedentary
(/1 = 188)and physically active (/1 = 164), by a modified Harvard step test suitable for
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Indian subjects. Mean PFl score was found to be significantly higher (p < 0·00 I) in
the physically active group of students. It was found that PFI scores of more than
65% of the total of352 students fell in the 'average' category. PFJ was found to have
no significant correlation with body height, body weight or body surface area, and
this tends to confirm the validity and applicability ofthis modified step test in Indian
subjects. No significant correlation was found between age and PFI in both the
groups of students, but PFJ was found to have significant negative correlation
(p < 0'001) with resting heart rate (both in silting and standing postures). The results
obtained in the present investigation once again revealed the much poorer physical
fitness level of Indians by comparison with westerners.

I. Introduction
In spite of the trend towards rapid industrialization through mechanization and
automation in developing countries, the use of man-power is likely to persist in India
on a large scale for a long time, because of her high population size and low general
economic status. So from the viewpoint of ergonomics it is an important task to assess
the physical fitness status of Indians because unfit people will have difficulty in
performing physically demanding tasks. Another need is to find a standardized method
suitable for Indian subjects. Some studies have been made in India to assess the
physical fitness of different groups of subjects (Munro 1949, Banerjee et al. 1970, Bisen
et ul . 1972, Sen et al. 1973, Bandyopadhyay and Chattopadhyay (980), but those
studies involved a small number of subjects and therefore could not give a clear overall
picture. The present study was undertaken to assess the physical fitness standards of
sedentary and physically active college students of Eastern India in comparison to the
young men of other countries, taking a large sample of both the groups.

2. Methodology
2.1. Subjects
352 male college students of age 16·0 to 24·5 years, stature 144·3 to 187·5cm and
body weight 35·0 to 75'Okg were classified into two groups, sedentary (11= 188) and
physically active (11 = 164), according to their habitual physical activity. They were
selected from healthy male college students residing in several districts of Eastern India:
subjects being drawn from at least one college in each district of Eastern India to avoid
bias. While studying the subjects from each college, only the interested and willing
students were recruited on a 'first come first serve' basis. On average, five students from
each group were studied from one college. No strict differentiation was made between
physically active students, athletes and sportsmen, and therefore the students who
regularly took active part in either athletics or any other sports and games which need
an appreciable amount of muscular activity such as football, hockey, volleyball,
badminton, etc. were treated as 'physically active'.
0014-01J9/81/2401 OllIS 502·00 l' 1981 Taylor & Francis Ltd
 16 B. Ba~J(lyopadhyay and H. Chuttopatlhyay

2.2. Method
The original Harvard step test had been found unsatisfactory by various workers
mainly because its 20 in. (50'8 em) step height greatly penalizes the shorter men, and
therefore it could not be treated as a valid test for all population types (Miller and Elbel
1964, Elbel et 01. 1958, Rovelli and Aghemo 1963, Datta et 01. 1974). First, Elbel and
Green (1946) and later Margaria et 01. (1965) and Tuxworth and Shahnawaz (1977) used
a 40cm stool for their subjects. In India, Sen et al . (1973); and Bandyopadhyay and
Chattopadhyay (1980) also' used a 40cm stool with a stepping frequency of 20 per
minute. The latter authors showed that this was the most appropriate method for
Indian subjects. In the present study, the method and procedure suggested by
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Bandyopad hyay and Chattopad hyay (1980) was used for assessment of physical fitness.

2.2.1. Procedure, The standard procedure for the step test was used. The PFJ was
calculated as
PFJ = x
Duration of exercise in seconds 100
2 x (Sum of I' to 1'30",2' to 2'30" and 3' to 3'30" recovery pulses)

For comparison with the PFJ scores reported by other workers using 20 in. stool with a
stepping frequency of 30 per minute, Bandyopadhyay and Chattopadhyay (1980)
suggested the labelling ofPFI scores as follows: a score below 100 was labelled 'poor'; a
score between 100 and 160 'average'; and a score above 160 'good'.

2.3. Statistical analysis

As both the groups had a large number of subjects, the large sample standard
normal variable (:) test was used to compare the means of the two distributions.
Probability values Icss than 0·0 I were' considered as significant.

3. Results
3.1. Normal vollies
The mean values of physical characteristics along with resting blood pressure;
resting heart rate and PFJ scores of the two groups of subjects are compared in table 1.
Body surface area was calculated by Banerjee and Sen's (1955) modification of the'
Dubois formula appropriate for Indians. It shows that the physically active group of
students had significantly higher mean values of body height, body weight and body
surface area, and significantly lower values of resting heart rate (both sitting and
standing) and resting systolic blood pressure. Mean PFJ score was significantly higher
in the physically active group of students.
Percentile values of resting heart rate and PFJ score are shown in table 2. The
mean value and median value (50th percentile) of PFJ score in sedentary students are
99·66 and 98·1 respectively (poor) and in physically active students are 135·54 and 132·8 .
respectivcly(average).109 out of the 188 sedentary students had PFJ scores below 100
whereas 79 of them had PFJ scores between 100 and 160: none had a 'good' PFI score.
On the other hand, none of the physically active students had a PFJ score below 100;
150 out of 164 students had a PFJ score between 100 and 160 but only 14 had PFI score
above 160 and could be classed as 'good'.
 Physical fitness in Indian college students 17

Table 1. Mean values of physical characteristics, heart rate, blood pressure and PFI in two
groups of subjects.

Sedentary (11= 188) Physically active (11= 164) z

Variables Mean SE CV Mean SE CV Value

Age (years) 19·52 0'15 10·3 19·50 0·15 10·3 0·094

Body height (em) 165·07 0-43 3-5 167'70 0·47 3-6 4,18**
Body weight (kg) 50·17 0-47 12-8 52·07 0-43 10·5 2,95*
Body surface
area (m') 1·59 0·01 7-l 1'63 0·01 6·3 3'55**
Systolic blood
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pressure (mm Hg) 121·21 0·88 10·0 117-70 0·84 9·1 2,86**
Diastolic blood
pressure (mm Hg) 75·22 0·64 11·6 74·19 0·69 11·8 1·10
Resting heart rate
(siuingj/min. 76·39 0·53 s-s 64·39 0·40 9·0 17,54**
Resting heart rate
(standing)/mi~. 82·47 0·54 8·9 69·19 0·43 7-9 18,99**
PFI score 9%6 1·11 15·3 135·54 1·31 12'3 21,03**

*p<O·OI. ** P<0·001.

Table 2. Percentile values of resting sitting heart rate and PFI score.

Percentile values

Variables Group 5th 25th 50th 75th 95th

Resting heart rate Sed 62·2 70·8 77-5 81·3 86·8

(sitting) (beats/min) Act 58·1 60·3 6H 68·5 74·5
PFI score Sed 78·2 89-2 98·1 ION 129·5
Act 108·9 122-0 132-8 149·3 163-2

3.2. Relationship to different variables

The relationships of PFI to different variables are shown in table 3. PFI had no
significant correlation with body height, body weight or body surface area, but resting
heart rate (both sitting and standing) and PFI showed highly significant negative
correlations. Age and PFI were not significantly correlated.

Table 3. Relationship of PFI to difTerent variables.

Correlation coefTicient

Variables Sedentary Active

Age 0'137 -0,046

Body height -0,040 0·054
Body weight -0'138 -0,125
Body surface area -0,131 -0,103
Resting heart rate (sitting) -0'640** -0'725**
Resting heart rate (standing) -0'692** -0'740**

** P < 0,001,.
 18 B. Bandyopadliyay and H. Chauopodhyay

4. Discussion
The better physical characteristics of the physically active group' of students is
possibly due to the fact that the young men of better physique are more likely to
participate in sports and games. Whether regular physical activity had any significant
effect on body height is still unknown, but the significantly lower mean values of resting
heart rate (sitting and standing) and resting systolic blood pressure in the physically
active group of students agreed with the previous findings of Astrand (1956). The
physically active group of students had a significantly higher PFJ score than the
sedentary group ofstudents. Previous workers like Keen and Sload (1958), Sloan (1969)
and Banerjee et al. (1970) had also reported that physically active students had higher
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PFI scores than sedentary students. The present study indicates that physical fitness of
sedentary college students was very poor whereas the physically active college students
could be treated as 'average' physically fit.
No significant correlation was found between PFI score and physical charac-
tcristics in both the groups of students, which supports the validity and applicability of
this modified step test in Indian subjects. When using the original 50·8 em high stool the
shorter subjects were forced to discontinue the step test due to local muscular fatigue
(Sen et. al. 1973, Dalla et al. 1974). In both groups of students, resting heart rate (both
sitting and standing) showed a highly significant negative correlation with physical
fitness index (PFI). Previous workers in this field also found a significant negative
correlation between PFI and resting heart rate (Astrand 1956, Banerjee et al. 1970, Sen
et al. 1973). An interesting finding obtained in the present study was that in both the
groups of students the PFI was better correlated with resting standing heart rate than
resting sitting heart rate.
Although the present study spans the period of adolescence when physiological
function may be improving relative to physical dimensions, yet in both the groups age
was found to have no significant correlation with PFI. As most of the students studied
were between 17·0 to 23·0 years of age, the insignificant correlation between age and
PFJ suggests that in Eastern Indian students the increase in physical dimensions from
17 to 23 years of age possibly has very little effect on physical fitness status.
By comparing PFI scores obtained in the students of the present study with those of
young men of other countries it was seen that the physical fitness status of young
Eastern Indian college students was much poorer than the young adults of North
America and Africa (Drake et al . 1968, Sloan 1969, Fox et al. 1973),Japan (Noguchi and
Sasaki 1968), Australia (Allen 1966) and Britain (Munro 1949). This poor physical
fitness status is possibly due to factors such as nutritional, genetic and environmental
differences and the extent of regular physical activity. It is very likely that people in the
hot climatic conditions of Eastern India have more sedentary occupations than the
westerners who in colder climatic conditions, have greater physical activity which may
lead to better physical fitness.
Acknowledgment
The financial assistance of University Grants Commission, New Delhi for
undertaking th'is investigation is gratefully acknowledged.

Lcsaptitudes physiquesont ete deterrninees dans deux groupes de jeunes etudiants dont l'un
comportait des sujets sedentaires (11= 188),l'autre des sujcts actifs physiquement (11= 164). Un
step-test de Harvard adapte aux sujets indiens a ete utilise.
On a observe un indicedaptitudes physiques(PFI) significativement plus elevechez lessujets
actifs que chez lessujets sedcntaires (p<O,OOI). Les valeurs PFI de plus de 65:1;'. sur un total de 352
 Physical fitness in l ndian college students 19

etudiants se trouvaient dans la categoric 'moyenne', Le PFI ne presentait aucune correlation

a
significative avec la taille, Ie poids ou la surface corporelle. Ceci tend con firmer la validite de ce
step-test modifie applique it des sujets indiens. On n'a pas non plus trouve de correlation
significative entre l'age et Ie PFI, dans les deux groupes. Cependant Ie PFI etait negativement
correle (p<O,OOI) avec la frequence cardiaque de repos (en position assise et debout). Les resultats
de cette experience montrent, encore une fois, que Ie niveau des aptitudes physiques des Indiens
est nettement inferieur a celui des Occidentaux.

Bei zwei Gruppen von College-Studenten (sitzende Lcbensweisc bzw. korperlich aktiv)
wurde die Leistungsfahigkeit (Physical Fitness-Wert) mittels eines an indische Versuchspersonen
angepabten Harvard Stop Test bestimmt. Der PFI-Wert war im Mittel bei der korperlich
aktiven Gruppe griiBer (p<O,OOI). Bei mehr als 65% der insgesamt 352 Studenten lag der PFl-
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Wert im Durchschnittsbereich. Der PFI-Wert korrelierte weder mit der Korpergrofie, dem
Korpergewicht noch mit der Korperoberflache, so dal3 die Anwendbarkeit und Validitiit dieses
Stufentests fur indische Versuchspersonen bestatigt wird. In keiner Gruppe zeigte der PFI-Wert
eine Korrelation mit dem Alter, er war jedoch signifikant negativ mit der Ruhepulsfrequenz im
Sitzen und im Stehen korreliert (p<O,OOI). Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine im Vergleich zu
westlichen Personen schlechtere korperliche Leistungsfiihigkeit der Inder hin.

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 20 Physical fitness in indian college students

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Manuscript received 26 March 1980.

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Manuscript accepted 16 October 1980.