TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - The Timed Up and Go test: Predicting falls in ALS
JO  - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
A1  - Montes, Jacqueline
A1  - Cheng, Beatrice
A1  - Diamond, Beverly
A1  - Doorish, Carolyn
A1  - Mitsumoto, Hiroshi
A1  - Gordon, Paul H.
SP  - 292
EP  - 295
VL  - 8
IS  - 5
N2  - There are few functionally meaningful clinical measures used to guide management of patients with ALS. Falls are common, can be debilitating, and result in increased health care costs. We assessed the performance and ability to predict falls of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, which quantifies walking ability, in a prospective longitudinal study. Thirty-one patients underwent six monthly TUG, ALSFRS-R, forced vital capacity, muscle testing (MMT) and quality of life assessments. Linear and generalized linear mixed effects models assessed the associations among variables and ability to predict falls. The increase in TUG time was linear over six months, and TUG time was negatively associated with ALSFRS-R (p</=0.001) and MMT scores (p</=0.001). The TUG test was the only variable that was associated with the chance of falling (p = 0.024); patients with TUG times of 14 s had a 10% chance of falling during the study. In conclusion, TUG performance declined linearly in this longitudinal study, was correlated with standard outcome measures, and predicted falls. The TUG test can guide management of patients with ALS; a time of 14 s can be used to prompt the recommendation for mobility aids to prevent falls.     <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1748-2968
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482960701435931
ID  - ref1
ER  -