Reference Values for 1-minute Sit-to-Stand Test and its Correlation with Physical Activity Levels among Healthy...

To determine reference values for the 1-min Sit-to-Stand Test (STS) for healthy adults in the geriatric population.

It was a cross-sectional study conducted in healthy older Indian adults, where 300 participants of either gender were recruited based on the study criteria. After recording the demographic data and the physical activity levels of the participants using the Hindi version of long-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-LF), they had to perform a 1-min STS at their comfortable pace. Two trials were performed with a rest pause of 5 min between them. The best of the two trials was recorded as the number of sit-to-stand repetitions per minute.

Reference values were found to be 18.0 repetitions/min (14.0-20.0 repetitions/minute) for the age group of 60-69 years, 18.0 repetitions/minute (14.0-19.0 repetitions/minute) for the age group of 70-79 years and 10.0 repetitions/minute (09.0-13.0 repetitions/minute) for the age group of 80 years and above. There was a moderate positive correlation between 1-min STS scores and IPAQ-LF scores in the age group of 60-69 years (r = 0.33) and 70-79 years (r = 0.43), and a strong positive correlation in the above-mentioned parameters in the age group of 80 years and above (r = 0.72).

This study is the first to determine predicted values for the 1-minute STS in healthy older Indian adults in three age groups viz, 60-69, 70-79, and above 80 years. There is a considerable decrease in the number of repetitions of STS above 80 years. It is also positively correlated to the physical activity levels of the participants.