Timed Up and Go test phases as predictors of future falls in community-dwelling older adults
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/fm.2022.35142Abstract
Introduction: The Timed Up and Go (TUG) is a test widely used to assess the risk of falls in older adults. Although it is a complex task, only the total TUG time has been used for evaluation. The widespread use of smartphones has provided the development of applications for monitoring diagnostic procedures. Objective: To analyze the ability to predict future falls in older adults. Methods: A cohort study (1 year) of 42 participants using the sTUG Doctor. Fall events during 1-year follow-up were monitored by telephone. The number of days between assessment and first fall or last contact was calculated for survival analysis, assessed by unadjusted and adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. Tests with p <5 % were considered statistically significant and between 5% and 10% were indicative of significance (Epi-Info™ 7.2). Results: Falls were observed in 22 (52.38%) participants (fallers). The results indicated that cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, women, and participants with fear of falling (FES-I) were more likely to fall. Fallers performed worse on all sTUG Doctor phases. Hazard ratios for predicting falls were significant for total TUG time (1.35; p = 0.029) and total number of steps (1.52; p = 0.057). Total TUG time remained significant when adjusted for sex, age group, FES-I, and depression level. Conclusion: The sTUG Doctor was an important tool to predict falls in community-dwelling older adults.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors guarantee that the works submitted to this journal are original and were not prepared in violation of any third party rights, having obtained all the necessary authorizations to include complementary content, such as, but not restricted to, translations, illustrations, tables and citations, whose precise sources the author also undertakes to indicate. The authors also declare that the works do not contain defamatory statements that violate morals, good customs and/or that violate intellectual property rights.
When submitting your paper, the Copyright Assignment signed by all authors must be attached.