The timed "up and go" test: Reliability and validity in persons with unilateral lower limb amputation

Objective: To determine the interrater and interrater reliability and the v alidity of the Timed "up and go" test as a measure for physical mobility in elderly patients with an amputation of the lower extremity. Design: To test interrater reliability, the test was performed for two obse rvers at different times of the same day in an alternating order. To test i ntrarater reliability, the patients performed the test for one observer on two consecutive visits with an interval of 2 weeks. To test validity, the r esults of the Timed "up and go" test were compared with the results on the Sickness Impact Profile, 68-item version (SIP68), and the Groningen Activit y Restriction Scale (GARS). Patients: Thirty-two patients, age 60yrs or older, with unilateral transtib ial or transfemoral amputation because of peripheral vascular disease. Results: The Timed "up and go" test showed good intrarater and interrater r eliability (r = .93 and .96, respectively). A moderate relationship exists between the Timed "up and go" test and the GAPS, a good relationship exists with the "physical subscales" of the SLP68, and there is no relationship w ith the "mental subscales" of the SIP68. Conclusions: The Timed "up and go" test is a reliable instrument with adequ ate concurrent validity to measure the physical mobility of patients with a n amputation of the lower extremity. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of R ehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Re habilitation.