Valores normativos para o teste Timed Up & Go em pediatria e validação para pacientes com Síndrome de Down

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The Timed Up &Go (TUG) test has been used in the assessment of the functional mobility and only few studies have tested it in a healthy pediatric population, as well as in patients with Down Syndrome (DS). OBJECTIVES: To determine normative values for the TUG test in healthy children and adolescents and to validate its use in a sample of patients with DS. METHODS: A cross-sectional study divided into two phases. Children and adolescents, from 3 to 18 years old, healthy (phase1), or with DS (phase 2), were selected by convenience to be assessed with the TUG test. The assessments were performed in the following order: anthropometric measurements, actual lower limb length, TUG and Gross Motor Functional Measurements (GMFM) this one was only performed in phase 2. The association between the TUG test values and the possible predictive variables was analyzed using a model of multiple linear regression. RESULTS: In phase 1 (459 participants), the TUG test values were different across the participants age and, because of that, they were stratified in age groups that serve as normative values for both genders. The regression model has demonstrated that the age and the weight (R2=0,25) were the best variables for the TUG test prediction. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) demonstrated excellent within-session and between-session reliability. In phase 2 (40 individuals with DS), the test also showed excellent reproducibility. The performance time was significantly higher in individuals with DS compared with gender, age and weight matched healthy controls. Also, the dimension E of the GMFM was the variable that best correlated with the TUG test. CONCLUSION: This study provides normative values for the TUG test and shows that its behavior can be explained according to the age and weight in healthy children and adolescents. The TUG test is a reliable and valid assessment of functional mobility in patients with SD and correlates with the gross motor function.