Prediction of Reduced Gait Speed Using 5-Time Sit-to-Stand Test in Healthy Older Adults

Objectives: To determine the accuracy of the 5-time stand-to-sit (5TSTS) test for the identification of older adults with reduced gait speed. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants: A total of 559 community-dwelling older adults were included in the study, divided into groups of women (n = 465) and men (n = 94). Methods: 5TSTS and gait speed were assessed. Multiple linear regression analysis with adjustment was performed in order to determine the association between 5TSTS and gait speed, followed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the identification of the usefulness of 5TSTS to discriminate older adults with reduced gait speed. Based on the ROC curve, we identified the area under the curve, the sensitivity, specificity, and cutoff points of the 5TSST. Statistical analyses were made using the SPSS software (version 25.0), and a significance level of 5% (P <= .05) was adopted. Results: The 5TSTS showed correlation with gait speed. Additionally, 5TSTS was able to discriminate reduced gait speed with moderate accuracy (P <.05; AUC between 0.7 and 0.8). For women, the cutoff scores for 5TSTS to identify gait speed < 0.8 m/s was 14.15 seconds; for gait speed <1.0 m/s, it was 12.67 seconds. For men, the cutoff scores for 5TSTS to identify gait speed <0.8 m/s was 14.67 seconds, and for gait speed <1.0 m/s, it was 13.63 seconds. Conclusion and Implications: The 5TSTS is clinically useful and can be an alternative assessment for discriminating community-dwelling older adults with reduced gait speed, when the gait evaluation is not feasible. The study also suggests different cutoff values for 5TSTS considering the gait speeds <0.8 and <1.0 m/s for older women and men, respectively. (C) 2021 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.