9
Table 5. Commonly Employed Measures to Screen for
Physical Impairment
Measure Comments
Timed Get up
and Go test
Most adults can complete this test. Good correlation with gait
speed, Barthel Index and measures of balance (Mathias S, Nayak
USL, Isaacs B. Balance in elderly patients - the Get-up and Go
Test. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 1986; 67(6):
387-389, Bischoff HA, Stahelin HB et al. Identifying a cut-off point
for normal mobility: a comparison of the timed 'up and go' test in
community-dwelling and institutionalised elderly women. Age and
Ageing 2003; 32(3): 315-320).
4-m gait speed Robust, clinically friendly measure. Easy to perform. Can be used to
measure functional status in older adults and to predict future health
and well-being. Population norms available (Studenski S, Perera S
et al. Physical performance measures in the clinical setting. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society 2003; 51(3): 314-322, Cesari M.
Role of gait speed in the assessment of older patients. JAMA 2011;
305(1): 93-94).
Grip strength Requires a dynamometer for objective measurement; normative
ranges in older people available. Predictive of increased future
functional limitations and disability, increased fracture risk, and
increased all-cause mortality (Roberts HC, Denison HJ et al.
A review of the measurement of grip strength in clinical and
epidemiological studies: Towards a standardised approach. Age and
Ageing 2011; 40(4): 423-429).
