Intra-rater reliability of timed ‘up and go’ test for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Background: The ‘timed up and go’ (TUG) test is a quick test, used in clinical practice as an outcome measure to assess functional mobility in adults. However, little information is available for TUG test use in people with cerebral palsy (CP). Aim: To assess within-session and test-retest reliability of TUG test and to find the mean score of it with respect to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) in children diagnosed with CP. Methodology: An observational study of 30 children with CP of 4-12 years, those within GMFCS level I, II, and III, and an IQ>50. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling excluding children with cognitive deficit. The documented data was analyzed by using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Subjects performed TUG on three occasions—at initial assessment; 30 min after initial assessment; 1 week after initial assessment. On each of these three occassions three TUG tests were performed. A mean score of the three trials was documented as a final score. Within session and test-retest reliability was analyzed using scores of trial 1 and 2; and trials 1 and 3 respectively. To find the mean score of the TUG test with respect to GMFCS level, a mean of all scores from all TUG tests performed within the particular GMFCS levels was calculated. Result: Reliability of TUG test was high, with ICC of 0.99 within session, and 0.99 was test-retest relibility. Significant variation was seen in the TUG score for the three levels of GMFCS. Conclusion: Intra-rater reliability of TUG test in children with CP was found to be highly reliable.