Usefulness of chair stand time as a surrogate of gait speed in diagnosing sarcopenia.
OBJECTIVE
Determining gait speed as a measure of physical performance is recommended in diagnosing sarcopenia. Gait speed measurements require a certain amount of space (e.g. a 6-m course), and might not be feasible in clinical settings or heath checkup examination sites. We developed a formula to estimate chair stand time based on gait speed, and examined the validity (sensitivity and specificity) of using the estimated chair stand time cut-off point as a surrogate for the recommended gait speed cut-off point.


METHODS
Chair stand time was defined as the time it took to stand up from a standard chair five times. Gait speed was calculated from the time required for participants to walk a 6-m course at their usual pace.


RESULTS
Simple regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship between chair stand time and gait speed (P < 0.0001), and the estimated formula was derived as follows: five times chair stand time = -8.41 × gait speed + 20.0 (R2= 0.34). Therefore, the chair stand time cut-off point was estimated to be 13.3 s by inserting the recommended gait speed cut-off of 0.8 m/s in the above formula. Rounding off to make its use simpler, the estimated chair stand time cut-off was 13 s. The sensitivity and specificity of the estimated chair stand time cut off were 0.75 and 0.94, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Chair stand time might be useful as a surrogate of gait speed when screening for sarcopenia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 659-661.
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Takayuki
T
Nishimura
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Kazuhiko
K
Arima
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.|Department of Rehabilitation, Nishi-Isahaya Hospital, Isahaya, Japan.
Takuhiro
T
Okabe
Department of Rehabilitation, Nishi-Isahaya Hospital, Isahaya, Japan.
Satoshi
S
Mizukami
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.|Department of Rehabilitation, Nishi-Isahaya Hospital, Isahaya, Japan.
Yoshihito
Y
Tomita
Department of Rehabilitation, Nishi-Isahaya Hospital, Isahaya, Japan.
Mitsuo
M
Kanagae
Goto Health Care Office, Nagasaki, Japan.
Hisashi
H
Goto
Center for Public Relations Strategy, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
Itsuko
I
Horiguchi
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Yasuyo
Y
Abe
Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Kiyoshi
K
Aoyagi
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D000072797:Walking Speed / Q000502:physiology*
chair stand time; elderly; estimated formula; gait speed; sarcopenia