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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Validity of 3 physical performance measures in inpatient geriatric rehabilitation
Dina Brooks1, Aileen M Davis, Gary Naglie
1Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. dina.brooks@utoronto.ca
Objective:
To evaluate the construct validity and the responsiveness of 3 measures of physical performance measures as outcome measures for frail older persons.
Design:
Pre-post design with measures at admission and discharge.
Setting:
Three inpatient geriatric rehabilitation programs.
Participants:
Fifty-two subjects (35 women, 17 men; age, 80+/-8y).
Interventions:
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures:
Physical performance measures were Timed Up & Go (TUG) test, two-minute walk test (2MWT), and functional reach. Functional status was measured with the FIM instrument and the Modified Barthel Index.
Results:
The TUG and 2MWT scores differed significantly in groups of patients using different ambulatory aids (P=.006), whereas no such difference was observed for the functional reach (P=.40). The correlations between the TUG test and FIM and between the 2MWT and FIM were -.59 and .59 (P<.001), respectively, at admission, and -.42 and .47 (P< or =.04), respectively, at admission and discharge. The correlations between functional reach and the FIM were not significant (P> or =.09). Standardized response means were 1.1 for the TUG, 0.7 for the 2MWT, and 0.5 for functional reach.
Conclusions:
The TUG test and 2MWT are valid and responsive outcome measures in older persons participating in geriatric rehabilitation. Functional reach was a moderately responsive outcome measure but did not consistently reflect ambulatory or functional status.
