Validity Between Face-to-face And Remote Assessment Of Timed-up-and-go And 30-second Chair Stand In Older Adults

Fall-related injuries are the major cause of accidental death and disability among older adults. Assessment of fall risk by a clinician is an important step in preventing falls and concomitant morbidity. Although functional assessments are used clinically to identify at-risk individuals, accessing a healthcare facility can be challenging, particularly for those most at risk. Leveraging teleconferencing platforms to administer fall-risk assessments may improve access to care; however, the literature on the validation of remote delivery is limited. PURPOSE: To determine the validity of remote measures (RM) of physical function previously validated in controlled face-to-face (F2F) settings. Measures included the Timed-Up-and-Go at normal (nTUG) and fast (fTUG) walking pace, and 30-second Chair Stand. METHODS: Thirty ambulatory older adults with low to moderate fall risk completed nTUG and fTUG, and thirty-two older adults from the same cohort completed 30-second Chair Stand. All measures were completed F2F in our laboratory and at home by trained staff via a teleconferencing platform. For nTUG and fTUG, participants completed two frequently used protocols that differ by the object marking the 10 ft turnaround point (piece of tape on the floor vs. walking around a cone). Bivariate correlations were used to report validity of F2F vs. RM. Mean differences between F2F and RM were assessed using paired t-tests. RESULTS: All bivariate correlation values were significant at p < 0.001 (Table 1). Paired t-tests revealed a significant difference between the F2F and RM for nTUGtape, fTUGtape, nTUGcone, and fTUGcone, but not for 30s Chair Stand. Table 1. - Bivariate correlation and paired t-test Mean (SD) r 95% Confidence Interval Paired t-test for group differencep= F2F RM nTUGtape 8.73 (2.01) 9.74 (2.18) 0.627 0.344 - 0.805 0.005 fTUGtape 6.68 (1.61) 7.27 (1.58) 0.760 0.550 - 0.879 0.006 nTUGcone 8.53 (1.87) 9.48 (1.83) 0.801 0.619 - 0.901 <0.001 fTUGcone 6.78 (1.44) 7.68 (1.46) 0.872 0.745 - 0.937 <0.001 30s Chair Stand 14.0 (4.30) 13.6 (3.29) 0.812 0.647 - 0.905 0.367 CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate good to excellent validity of RM in older adults with low to moderate fall risk. These results contribute to the growing body of literature evaluating remotely administered clinical assessments of functional capacity in older adults.