Cm. Ross, TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY OF THE LATERAL STEP-UP TEST IN YOUNG-ADULT HEALTHY-SUBJECTS, The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 25(2), 1997, pp. 128-132
The lateral step-up test is often utilized by clinicians to assess low
er extremity performance capabilities. Reliability of the lateral step
-up test, however, is not available. Therefore, the purpose of this st
udy was to determine the test-retest reliability of a 15-sec and a 50-
repetition lateral step-up test on a .15-m (6-inch) and .2-m (8-inch)
step. For each of the 15-sec lateral step-up tests, subjects were aske
d to perform as many repetitions as possible during the 15-sec time fr
ame while for each of the 50-repetition lateral step-up tests, subject
s were asked to perform 50 repetitions as quickly as possible. Eightee
n healthy subjects were studied. Data were analyzed through a repeated
measures analysis of variance, intraclass correlation coefficients (I
CC) (2,1) and standard errors of measurement. The ICC values were .90
and .94 for the .15-m and .2-m 15-sec lateral step-up tests and .91 an
d .96 for the .15-m and .2-m 50-repetition lateral step-lip tests, res
pectively, revealing test-retest reliability to be high Tor each of th
e tests. Significant differences however, were noted between the testi
ng days for each or the 50-repetition lateral step-up tests, indicatin
g that the measures may not be stable. No significant differences were
seen between testing days for either of the 15-sec lateral step-up te
sts. While the results support the use of each of the 15-sec lateral s
tep-up tests as reliable, stable measures of lower extremity performan
ce caution should be used when interpreting the results of either of t
he M-repetition lateral step-up tests if used as demonstrated in this
study.