The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Apr 2013
Using timed up-and-go to identify frail members of the older population.
Fried's definition of frailty is widely used but its measurement is problematic. Timed up-and-go (TUG) is a simple measure of mobility that may be a useful proxy for frailty. Here, we describe the distribution of frailty and TUG in the older population of Ireland and discuss the extent to which TUG identifies the frail and prefrail populations. ⋯ TUG is a sensitive and specific measure of frailty that offers advantages in its measurement where the full application or interpretation of Fried's criteria is impracticable; however, TUG cannot be used to reliably identify prefrail individuals.