BioPsychoSocial Assessment Tools for the Elderly - Assessment Summary Sheet Test: Timed up and Go (TUG)   Year: 1991 Domain: Biological Assessment Tool Category: Mobility   Variations/Translations: TUG Cognitive (complete the task while counting backwards); TUG Manual (complete the task while carrying a full cup of water) Setting: Healthcare settings   Method of Delivery: Administered by health profesisonal   Description: This test is designed to measure basic mobility function. This test is a modified, timed version of the Get Up-and-Go (GUG) test. The TUG requires participants to stand from a seated position, walk a 3 metre distance at a normal pace, turn around, walk back, and sit in the same seated position.The subject wears their regular footwear and uses their customary walking aid (if necessary). The test is quick, requires no special equipment or training, and is easily included as part of the routine medical examination.   Scoring/Interpretation: With regards to functional mobility, participants who take less than 20 seconds to complete the test are independently mobile in regards to basic transfers—tub or shower transfers, climbing stairs or gingo outside alone. In comparison, those who take 30 seconds or more, are dependent on help for basic transfers. The performance is rated on a scale of 1 to 5, according to the observer’s perception of patient’s risk of falling. With regards to predicting falls, participants who take longer than 14 seconds to complete the TUG have a high risk for falls. The cut-off levels are: TUG - 13.5 seconds, TUG-Manual - 14.5 seconds, TUG-Cognitive - 15 seconds. Podsiadlo and Richardson (1991) found that scores greater than 30 seconds were the best predictor of functional dependence in older adults with ranges of neuropathologies. Shumway-Cook et al. (2000) found this cutoff to be greater than 14 seconds in community dwelling older healthy adults.   Time to Administer: The test only takes minutes to administer.   Availability: Contact the author to obtain the instrument.    Software: N/A   Websites: http://www.injuryresearch.bc.ca/Publications/Repository/The Timed Up & Go _Research Report_.pdf   Quantitative/Qualitative: Quantitative   Validity (Quantitative): TUG has excellent sensitivity (87%) and specificity (87%). It has convergent and predictive validity in an elderly population. It correlates well with log-transformed scores on the Berg Balance Scale (r = -0.81), gait speed (r = -0.61) and Barthel Index of ADL (r = -0.78). Reliability (Quantitative): TUG has been shown to have a good interrater reliability (ICC = 0.87–0.99). Good test-retest reliability- ICC = 0.97–0.99 and Spearman's rho = 0.93) have been demonstrated in many studies.   References:   Shumway-Cook, A., Brauer, S., & Woollacott, M. (2000). Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults using the timed up and go test. Physical Therapy, 80, 896-903.   Podsiadlo, D., & Richardson, S. (1991). The Timed “Up & Go”: A Test of Basic Functional Mobility for Frail Elderly Persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 39, 142-148. Mathias, S., Nayak, U.S.L., & Isaacs, B. (1986). Balance in elderly patient” The “Get Up and Go” Test . Arch Phys Med Rehabil 67, 387–389.   Comments: The chair used will commonly have a seat height of 46 cm and an arm height of 65 cm.