The Timed Up & Go : A Practical Basic Mobility Skills Assessment in the Elderly
Keywords:
Timed Up & Go, Mobility skill, Elderly, Gait speed, Functional scoreAbstract
Objective : Physical mobility skill is needed for independent living of the elderly. The traditional neuromuscular examination is useful to establish a diagnosis and determine the severity of the disease, but it is a poor indicator of functional capacity. The timed Up & Go test seems to be more practical in clinical settings. The objective of the study is to assess the clinical usefulness of the timed Up & Go, as a short test of basic mobility skills in elderly patients at geriatric clinics.
Methods : Ninety-five subjects were recruited from the Geriatric Clinic at Siriraj Hospital. Subjects were asked to perform the test by standing up from a standard armchair, walking a distance of three meters, turning, walking back to the chair, and sitting down again. In addition, the gait speed and the functional capacity were measured. The speed was calculated from time spent for a 20-meter walk with a customary walking aid at a freely chosen speed. The functional capacity was estimated by using Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Data were analyzed by independent t-test, one-way ANOVA test, multiple-comparison post hoc test and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results : Twenty two normal and 73 disease subjects were recruited into the study. They performed the timed Up & Go test in 8.8 ± 1.2 and 19.0 ± 14.8 seconds in the normal and disease group, respectively. Subjects with cerebrovascular accident (CVA) had the longest timed Up & Go, slowest gait speed and lowest functional score compared to those with knee osteoarthritis (OA), back pain and other diseases. With Pearson correlation analysis, the timed Up & Go correlated well to the gait speed (r= -0.78, p <0.001) and to the score on the Barthel Index of ADL (r= -0.79; p <0.001).
Conclusion : The timed Up & Go test is an easy and practical method to evaluate basic physical mobility in the elderly. It can be performed in any place and needs no special equipment. Therefore, it can be used as a short test of basic mobility skills in geriatric clinics
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