WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- "Timed up and go" (TUG) test performance is an independent predictor of risk for incident nonvertebral and hip fractures in elderly women, according to a study published in the Oct. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Kun Zhu, Ph.D., from the University of Western Australia in Perth, and colleagues investigated the role of TUG, a validated predictor of falling, and bone mineral density (BMD) in prediction of incident hip fracture in 1,126 women with a mean age of 75.0 years at baseline. The participants were assessed with the TUG test at baseline and at year one with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry total hip area BMD.
The investigators found that 32.7 and 54.2 percent of participants had slow TUG test performance (>10.2 seconds) and low hip area BMD, respectively. Compared to participants with normal TUG test performance and normal BMD, those with slow TUG and normal hip BMD had significantly increased risks of nonvertebral fracture and hip fracture (hazard ratio [HR], 1.84 and 2.48, respectively). Participants with slow TUG test performance and low hip BMD had a significantly increased risk of nonvertebral fractures and hip fractures (HR, 2.51 and 4.68, respectively). The population-attributable risks of nonvertebral fracture and hip fracture were 19.3 and 32.3 percent, respectively, for slow TUG test performance and normal hip BMD; 31.3 and 50.3 percent, respectively, for normal TUG test performance with low hip BMD; and 30.1 and 55.9 percent, respectively, for both slow TUG test performance and low hip BMD.
"Slow TUG test performance is an independent predictor of nonvertebral fracture and hip fracture," the authors write.
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