Timed Up and Go Test (TUG)

Objective
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To determine fall risk and measure progress of balance, sit to stand, and walking.

Intended Population
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This test was initially designed for elderly persons, but is used for people with Parkinsons, Multiple Sclerosis, hip fracture, Alzheimer, CVA, and others.

Method of Use[edit | edit source]

The patient starts in a seated position, stands up upon therapist’s command, walks 3 meters, turns around, walks back to the chair and sits down. The time stops when the patient is seated. The subject is allowed to use an assistive device, and a practice trial should be completed before the timed trial. Be sure to document the assistive device used.

Cut-off time for high risk of falls:

Cut-off times to classify subjects as high risk for falling vary based on the study and participants. By using regression analysis Shumway-Cook used 14 seconds as the cut-off.[1] Thus, if a subject took 14 seconds or longer he or she was classified as high-risk for falling.[1]

Materials Needed: one chair with armrest, stopwatch, tape (to mark 3 meters).

Reference
 
[edit | edit source]

Example score sheet   TUG score sheet


Screencast: brief screencast about TUG and how to use it.

Evidence[edit | edit source]

Reliability[edit | edit source]

Intratester and intertester reliability have been reported as high in elderly populations, from .92-.99.[2] However, reliability in community-dwelling populations has been found to be moderate (.56).[2] In people with Alzheimers disease reliability is high (ICC = .985-.988).[3] A study by Huang et al[4] reported an ICC of 0.80 for subjects with Parkinson's Disease.

Validity[edit | edit source]

Construct validity has been shown by correlating TUG scores with gait speed (Pearson r = .75), postural sway (Pearson r = -.48), step length (Pearson r = -.74), Barthel Index (Pearson r = -.79), and step frequency (Pearson r = -.59).[2]

 Sensitivity and Specificity[edit | edit source]

 The sensitivity and specificity have been reported to be 87% each in a study by Shumway-Cook et al in 2000.

 Minimally Detectable Change[edit | edit source]

The MDC was 4.09 seconds in patients with Alzheimers.3  In patients with Parkinson's the MDC was 3.5 seconds.

Links [edit | edit source]

Video: youtube video of TUG being performed.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0nqzvt9JSs

Recent Related Research (from Pubmed)[edit | edit source]

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References[edit | edit source]

References will automatically be added here, see adding references tutorial.

  1. 1.0 1.1 Shumway-Cook A, Brauer S, Woollacott M. Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults using the timed up & go test. Phys Ther. 2000;80(9):896-903.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Steffen T, Hacker T, Mollinger L. Age- and gender-related test performance in community-dwelling elderly people: six-minute walk test, berg balance scale, timed up & go test, and gait speeds. Phys Ther. 2002;82(2):128-137.
  3. Ries J, Echternach J, Nof L, Blodgett M. Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change scores for the timed "up & go" test, the six-minute walk test, and gait speed in people with alzheimer disease. Phys Ther. 2009;89(6):569-579.
  4. Huang S, Hsieh C, Wu R, Tai C, Lin C, Lu W. Minimal detectable change of the timed "up & go" test and the dynamic gait index in people with parkinson disease. Phys Ther. 2011;91(1):114-121.