There is a need for valid measures to monitor changes in the functional mobility of inpatients of orthopaedic rehabilitation wards. The timed up and go (TUG) test is often used to measure functional mobility 13,24 but it has not been specifically validated for use with the type of complex musculoskeletal conditions seen on an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation service.tation because it is simple and easy to administer in a clinical setting. The test consists of measuring the time it takes for an individual to get up from a chair, walk to a 3-m mark, turn around, come back, and sit down.Previous studies have demonstrated that the TUG test is reliable for community-dwelling individuals. 19,21,22,25,30,31,34 The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) have ranged from 0.75 in individuals with osteoarthritis awaiting knee/ hip arthroplasty 19 to 0.95 22 and 0.97 34 in community-dwelling older adults.However, persons living in the community may be quite different from hospitalized patients who are frequently dependent in activities of daily living (ADL) and restricted in weight-bearing activities. Although Nordin et al 26 have sampled subjects residing in supportedliving facilities and dependent in ADL; their subjects were different from inpatients of orthopaedic rehabilitation wards in that they had cognitive impairments and only 18% of them had orthopaedicrelated diagnoses. Furthermore, previous reliability studies did not specifically include subjects with restricted weightbearing status. 19,21,22,25,30,31,34 The TUG test has been validated for use with orthopaedic conditions and in Single-group repeatedmeasures study.To examine the test-retest reliability of the timed up and go (TUG) test and its validity for measuring change and predicting length of stay (LOS) on an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation ward.The TUG test is used to measure functional mobility of persons with musculoskeletal conditions but has not been thoroughly tested for use in an inpatient orthopaedic rehabilitation ward.The TUG test was administered to 142 patients on admission to an orthopaedic rehabilitation ward 7 to 10 days after admission and on discharge. To test reliability, 24 subjects had these tests repeated 1 day after admission, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) were calculated. Change scores of the TUG test were evaluated against change scores in pain and function, and the rating of improvement of the patient and therapist. The standardized response mean (SRM) was also calculated. A regression analysis was performed to determine whether the admission TUG test score could predict LOS.The ICC of the TUG test was 0.80, and the SEM was 10.2 seconds. The change in TUG test scores correlated with the changes in pain (r = 0.21, P .01) and function (r = -0.23, P .01), and resulted in an SRM of 0.89 for subjects rated as improved. The admission TUG test scores accounted for only 3.4% of the variance in inpatient LOS.The TUG test is reliable and valid to assess group change of inp...