title: Is timed up and go better than gait speed in predicting health, function, and falls in older adults?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether the Timed Up and Go (TUG) is superior to gait speed in predicting multiple geriatric outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medicare health maintenance organization and Veterans Affairs primary care clinics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults aged 65 and older (N=457).
  
  
  METHODS
  Baseline gait speed and TUG were used to predict health decline according to EuroQol and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) global health; functional decline according to National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) activities of daily living (ADLs) score and SF-36 physical function index; hospitalization; and any falls and multiple falls over 1 year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 74, and 44% of participants were female. Odds ratios for all outcomes were equivalent for gait speed and TUG. Using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.7 or greater for acceptable predictive ability, gait speed and TUG each alone predicted decline in global health, new ADL difficulty, and falls, with no difference in predictive ability between performance measures. Neither performance measure predicted hospitalization, EuroQol decline, or physical function decline. As a continuous variable, TUG did not add predictive ability to gait speed for any outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gait speed predicts most geriatric outcomes, including falls, as does TUG. The time taken to complete TUG may not add to information provided by gait speed, although its qualitative elements may have other utility.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Viccaro
authors.forename: Subashan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Studenski
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors