How Should Pushing Off or the Use of Assistive Devices Be Incorporated in the Timed Up and Go for Persons With Parkinson Disease?

Objectives: To determine (1) the relationship between assisted timed Up and Go (TUG) performance and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39), and (2) whether adjusting the TUG score (adding time) improves the relationship between TUG performance and the PDQ-39 in persons with Parkinson disease (PD) who use assistive devices or push off, or both.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Twenty participating National Parkinson Foundation Centers of Excellence.

Participants: Data were obtained from participants (N=6624) without exclusion at the 20 participating sites.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: The relationship between TUG scores and PDQ-39 mobility scores was determined using the method of linear least squares. Adjusted scores were determined through minimizing the sum of the squared error.

Results: The correlation between assisted TUG scores and PDQ-39 mobility scores was slightly lower (R(2)=.384) compared with the correlation between nonassisted TUG scores and PDQ-39 mobility scores (R(2)=.409). Adjusting assisted TUG performance scores for push off and for use of an assistive device resulted in a modest increase in correlation (R(2)=.399).

Conclusions: Applying adjustments to assisted TUG may provide clinically important information for evaluating balance, mobility, and falls, and for determining the most effective therapeutic strategies for persons with PD.