title: Measurement properties of the Timed Up & Go test in patients with COPD.
abstract: We aimed to investigate the construct validity of the Timed Up & Go (TUG) test in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to identify characteristics related to an abnormal TUG time and to examine the responsiveness of the TUG to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). TUG time was assessed before and after comprehensive PR in 500 COPD patients, and compared cross-sectionally in 100 non-COPD subjects. Physical health outcomes, mental health outcomes, symptom-related outcomes and multidimensional indices were assessed in COPD patients only. Good convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated by fair-to-moderate correlation with physical health outcomes, symptom-related outcomes and multidimensional indices ( rs= 0.18-0.70) and by little correlation with mental health outcomes ( rs= 0.21-0.26). COPD patients had a worse TUG time than non-COPD subjects, demonstrating known-groups validity. A TUG time of 11.2 seconds had good sensitivity (0.75) and specificity (0.83) for identifying patients with a baseline 6-minute walk distance <350 m. TUG time improved after PR ( p < 0.0001) and a change of 0.9-1.4 seconds was identified as clinically important. The TUG is valid and responsive in COPD. An abnormal result is indicative of poor health outcomes. This simple test provides valuable information and can be adopted in clinical and research settings.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.|2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mesquita
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wilke
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dionne E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Smid
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Daisy Ja
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frits Me
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Franssen
authors.affiliation: 3 Center for Research in Health Sciences, University North of Paraná (UNOPAR), Londrina, Brazil.|4 Laboratory of Research in Respiratory Physiotherapy, Department of Physiotherapy, State University of Londrina (UEL), Londrina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanessa S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Probst
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.|2 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Emiel Fm
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Wouters
authors.affiliation: 5 Caphri School of Public Health and Primary Care, Department of Family Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jean Wm
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Muris
authors.affiliation: 4 Laboratory of Research in Respiratory Physiotherapy, Department of Physiotherapy, State University of Londrina (UEL), Londrina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pitta
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martijn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Spruit
keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; outcome assessment (healthcare); rehabilitation