Timed Up and Go: Reference Values for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with and without Arthritis and Non-Communicable Diseases: The Tromsø Study

Abstract

Purpose The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is used to assess a person’s mobility and balance. We aimed to provide updated reference values for TUG performance for the community-dwelling older population according to age and sex, and according to the presence of arthritis and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Participants and Methods Cross-sectional data from the seventh wave (2015–2016) of the population-based Norwegian Tromsø Study counting 5400 community-dwelling people (53% women), aged 60–84 years were used. Reference values were presented as percentiles and means for men and women by age at five-year intervals. Results Median TUG score was stable during age 60–65 years, and after age 65 years median TUG score increased significantly with age (increase by 0.14 sec per 1 year higher age in both men and women, p<0.001). At the youngest ages (<65 years), in both men and women, there were no differences in TUG performance for those with NCD or arthritis compared to those without these diseases. After age 65 however, those without these diseases performed significantly better (p<0.05) in both men and women. Conclusion The present study provided percentile reference values for TUG performance in community-dwelling older adults in Norway by age and sex, and in subgroups of those having arthritis and NCDs. TUG scores increased with age, and performance was significantly poorer among participants with arthritis or NCDs after age 65 years. The findings may guide clinical interventions for individuals with mobility and balance disabilities.

Normative data for three physical frailty parameters in an aging, rural Indian population

“…Both the above trends have been demonstrated by prior studies among older populations across the world. As observed with the grip strength findings, mean TUG time in our aging study sample was higher than studies from other older populations—American 37 (50–59 years; 9.9 s), Polish 38 (60–74 years; 8.4 s), Spanish 39 (71–99 years; males: 9.3, females: 11.2 s), Norwegian 40 (60–84 years; males: 8.2–11.2 s, females: 7.8–11.2 s), Japanese 41 (≥60 years; 8.86 s), Singaporeans 42 (60–74 years; 9.80 s), Thai 43 (60–69 years; males: 9.2, females: 9.9 s, 70–79 years; males: 10.2, females: 11.3 s, ≥80 years; males: 11.9, females: 13.4 s), Koreans 44 (70–84 years; males: 10.3, females: 10.2 s). Further, a meta‐analysis 45 of 21 studies, using data of older adults belonging to different countries, showed that the mean TUG time was only 9.4 s.…”

The effects of low-level laser therapy on muscle strength and functional outcomes in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial

“…The LLLT intervention groups showed an increased score for the 30-s sit-to-stand and decreased the time required for stair climbing and the TUG. The testing time among the three groups presented the same normative scores for the 30-s chair stand test 26 and the TUG test 27 in community-dwelling older people. The performance time required for the stair climb test varied between studies due to the different number of stair steps and the stair height used for testing 12 .…”

Physical performance tests and in-hospital outcomes in elective open chest heart surgery

“…In our study, performance in TUGT was marginally associated with time to walk in the younger group of patients, but not in older group. While TUGT has been previously shown to identify functional mobility deficits even in children [20] , osteoarthritis was present in 12 % of individuals of older group, which could have impaired the performance of TUGT [21] , a test relying essentially in mobility skills. This comorbidity may have limited the test capacity to measure associations with outcomes in OHS patients.…”