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A Short Physical Performance Battery Assessing Lower Extremity Function: Association With Self-Reported Disability and Prediction of Mortality and Nursing Home Admission

1994/03/01 by J. M. Guralnik, Jack M. Guralnik, E. M. Simonsick +12 · 9,816 citations
Health Professions · Medicine · Psychology · #Balance (ability) #Balance, Gait, and Falls Prevention #Frailty in Older Adults #Gait #Gerontology #Medicine #Nutrition and Health in Aging #Physical medicine and rehabilitation #Physical therapy #Psychology #Test (biology) #Timed Up and Go test

paper · doi:10.1093/geronj/49.2.m85

published in Journal of Gerontology 49(2), M85-M94 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 1994/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A short battery of physical performance tests was used to assess lower extremity function in more than 5,000 persons age 71 years and older in three communities. METHODS: Balance, gait, strength, and endurance were evaluated by examining ability to stand with the feet together in the side-by-side, semi-tandem, and tandem positions, time to walk 8 feet, and time to rise from a chair and return to the seated position 5 times. RESULTS: A wide distribution of performance was observed for each test. Each test and a summary performance scale, created by summing categorical rankings of performance on each test, were strongly associated with self-report of disability. Both self-report items and performance tests were independent predictors of short-term mortality and nursing home admission in multivariate analyses. However, evidence is presented that the performance tests provide information not available from self-report items. Of particular importance is the finding that in those at the high end of the functional spectrum, who reported almost no disability, the performance test scores distinguished a gradient of risk for mortality and nursing home admission. Additionally, within subgroups with identical self-report profiles, there were systematic differences in physical performance related to age and sex. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that performance measures can validly characterize older persons across a broad spectrum of lower extremity function. Performance and self-report measures may complement each other in providing useful information about functional status.

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