Association between timed up-and-go test and subsequent pneumonia: A cohort study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Sarcopenia, a significant risk factor for pneumonia in the elderly, can be screened using the timed up-and-go (TUG) test.
• The TUG test assesses gait speed and functional mobility, which are indicators of muscle health and overall physical function in older adults.
• Pneumonia and the need for mechanical ventilation represent serious health concerns for the aging population, necessitating effective screening and predictive tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the timed up-and-go (TUG) test results and the incidence of future pneumonia.
• To evaluate the relationship between TUG test performance and the requirement for ventilator care in elderly individuals.
• To determine the predictive utility of the TUG test for adverse respiratory outcomes in community-dwelling older adults.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 19,804 individuals aged 66 years without neurological diseases was identified from the National Health Insurance Service-Senior Cohort database.
• Participants underwent the TUG test, with gait abnormality defined as a TUG time of 10 seconds or longer.
• Pneumonia and ventilator care occurrences were tracked from 2007 to 2015 using ICD-10 and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding system codes.

Main Results:

• Over a mean follow-up of 7.4 years, the incidence of pneumonia was similar between normal (38/1000 person-years) and slow TUG groups (39.5/1000 person-years).
• The slow TUG group did not demonstrate a significantly higher risk for pneumonia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.042; 95% CI, 0.988-1.107).
• Incidence rates for ventilator care were also comparable (4.7 vs. 5.2 per 1,000 person-years), with no increased risk observed in the slow TUG group (aHR, 1.136; 95% CI, 0.947-1.363).

Conclusions:

• Timed up-and-go test results were not associated with the future risk of pneumonia or the need for ventilator care in community-dwelling elderly individuals.
• The TUG test may not be a suitable tool for predicting pneumonia in this population, despite its use in sarcopenia screening.
• Further research is required to identify alternative functional assessment tools that can effectively predict pneumonia risk associated with sarcopenia in the elderly.