Addition of a dual task to the five times sit to stand test may better reveal balance and functional mobility limitations in older adults

Research Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether addition of a dual task (DT) to the five times sit to stand test (5STS) may better reveal balance and mobility limitations in older adults when compared to 5STS alone.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University Laboratory.

Participants: Older adults 65 years and above, able to walk at least 10m without physical assistance, able to follow simple instructions, Mini-Mental State Examination score of > 23, and no other neurologic, severe musculoskeletal or cardiovascular diagnoses were recruited. 12 older adults (O; 9 Female, 3 Male; Mean Age: 69±3.5 years) and 12 younger adults (Y; 7 Female, 5 Male; Mean Age: 24±3.8 years) completed three trials each of 5STS and a DT (counting backwards by 3) 5STS.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Time to complete 5STS was measured for each trial. For older adults, functional mobility was assessed using the Timed Up and Go (TUG), knee and hip strength using a handheld dynamometer, fear of falling via the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), and gait speed was calculated from 8 ft. walk test.

Results: Participants took more time to complete DT 5STS (Y, 8.4±1.8s; O, 10.9±1.9s) compared to the 5STS (Y, 7.5±1s; O, 9.4±2.1s; p=.001). Older adults took longer time to complete 5STS than younger adults (p=.002). Slower gait speed correlated with longer DT 5STS (r=-.59, p=.044) but not with 5STS alone (r=-.36, p=.26). Similarly, slower TUG times correlated with longer DT 5STS (r=.670, p=.017), but not with 5STS alone (r=.512, p=.089). Other relationships were non-significant for both DT 5STS and 5STS.

Conclusions: Addition of a DT to the 5STS test may be more appropriate than a single task assessment of 5STS alone to assess balance and functional mobility limitations for older adults due to the presence of multi-tasking during everyday activities. Preliminary results support the need for additional research to determine the clinical utility of adding a DT to the 5STS test.

Author(s) Disclosures: There are no conflicts of interest related to this work.