Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) | Fall Risk Assessment | Geriatric Population

The Timed Up and Go Test is an easy-to-use test in order to assess the fall risk in the elderly population without much equipment.
It has been rated both 87% sensitive as well as specific for identifying elderly who are at risk of falls in a small-scale study done by Shumway-Cook et al. (2000). 

Here’s how you perform this test:

1. Measure a distance of 3 meters and tape this distance for a starting and turning point
2. Have the patient sit on a chair next to the starting line with possible walking aids at hand
3. Explain the procedure to the patient as follows: “When I ask you to start, please get up from your chair and walk at a comfortable and safe pace to the mark 3 meters away from you, cross the line, turn around and return to your chair and sit back down again. Could you repeat that to me?”
4. Make sure the patient understands the process
5. To conduct the test, start the stopwatch when you give your patient the start sign and stop when the patient is seated again
6. The patient is allowed one practice round and one round is timed

Another common, more extensive, test battery to assess fall risk in the elderly is the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES).

Shumway-Cook A, Brauer S, Woollacott M. Predicting the probability for falls in community-dwelling older adults using the Timed Up & Go Test. Physical therapy. 2000 Sep 1;80(9):896-903.