Hearing loss may be associated with lower levels of physical activity, fragmentation of active time, and greater difficulties in performing activities of daily living. However, there are no records of validated exercise tests for the physical assessment of people with deafness, which are crucial for prescribing interventions and monitoring physiological and functional responses. Among these, the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test (CPET) stands out as the gold standard for assessing physical fitness and limiting symptoms. However, CPET requires expensive equipment, highly trained personnel, and standard laboratory conditions, which limits its wide availability to the general population. On the other hand, the Modified Shuttle Test (MST) is a progressive, standardized, incremental test that is simple to perform in non-laboratory conditions. However, the MST uses auditory stimuli to guide participants, making it unfeasible for people with severe hearing loss or deafness.

The central objective of this study was to develop an adaptation of the MST guided by visual cues. Secondarily, we intend to test the validity and agreement of the visual TSM.

This is a cross-sectional study, divided into two phases. Phase I includes the development of resources for adapting the TSM, using visual guidance to replace the audible commands of the conventional test. LED (Light Emitting Diode) RGB (Red Green Blue) light signals were used, positioned above each cone, located at the ends of the path. In this phase, the test will be tested on healthy individuals and its agreement, determined by paired t-test, analysis of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and Spearman's correlation coefficient. In Phase II, the feasibility and reproducibility of the adapted TSM in deaf individuals will be tested.

An agreement analysis of partial data from Phase I was performed using the ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient) between the auditory SST and the visual SST in hearing individuals, considering the peak HR (n = 8) 170,7 ± 15.8 vs 169,4 ± 11,0bpm (p > 0,05) and the distance covered in the tests (n = 10) 999,0 ± 44,3 vs 987,0 ± 53,1 meters (p > 0,05), respectively. The partial results demonstrate an agreement between the tests for HR with ICC = 0,81 (95% CI = 0,39–0,93) and for distance covered ICC = 0.85 (95% CI = 0,46–0,96). The correlation between the HRpeak of the tests was r = 0,68, and between the distances it was r = 0,76 (p < 0,05 for both).

The adapted TSM has good agreement and validity when compared to the conventional TSM.

The results of this study can promote inclusion and accessibility of people with deafness for the assessment of functional capacity, contributing to a more equitable approach in the prescription of exercises. Additionally, we can provide a safe and efficient protocol for the assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness of this population.