Timed Up and Go Test: How to Perform and Interpret Results
July 11, 2025
9 min. read
The timed up and go test has become a cornerstone in assessing mobility within physical therapy. For clinicians aiming to evaluate sit-to-stand function, walking, turning, and balance through a single metric, this test offers meaningful insight with minimal equipment.
Background and purpose of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test
The timed up and go test is a timed adaptation of the “Get-Up-and-Go” test, designed to assess mobility by measuring how long it takes a person to: 1
Stand from a standard chair
Walk three meters (10 feet)
Turn around
Walk back
Sit down again
The test evaluates both static and dynamic balance, and incorporates multiple motor elements such as sit-to-stand, gait initiation, turning, and re-sitting. Some participants, especially older adults or those with neurological conditions, experience cognitive load during the test, as these sequential tasks involve not just movement but planning and orientation.
Research consistently shows excellent psychometric properties, with inter- and intra-rater reliability close to 0.99.2 In practice, this means that whether the test is administered by you, a colleague, or even repeated across sessions, the results remain highly consistent. This makes it a dependable, evidence-based tool to capture meaningful changes in a patient’s mobility, even when those changes are subtle.
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Administration guidelines and setup
Setting up the timed up and go test is straightforward and feasible in most clinics or community settings. Here’s how you can prepare:3
Use a standard armchair with a seat height of approximately 46 cm that will not slide or tip. The chair should be free-standing, not placed against a wall.
Place a marker on the floor three meters (approximately 10 feet) away.
Position the patient with their hips against the back of the chair, wearing their usual footwear. They may use their customary walking aid, but should not receive physical assistance.
Start the test with the verbal cue “Go.” Begin timing at that moment and stop when the patient’s buttocks touch the chair again.
Tip: Allow one untimed practice trial to help the patient become familiar with the procedure.
Interpretation: Normative values and cut-offs
The timed up and go test yields results that vary with age, health status, and mobility levels. Clinicians commonly use the following benchmarks for interpretation:3
Time (seconds) | Interpretation |
≤ 10–12 | Normal mobility |
≥ 14 | Increased probability of fall risk |
≤ 20 | Good mobility; mostly independent with basic mobility and likely independent outdoors |
20–30 | Mobility limitations; requires assistance for some activities; variable independence depending on environment/task |
≥ 30 | Significant mobility impairment; dependent in most activities |
Research insights
While the table provides general benchmarks, research helps clarify how these numbers play out in real populations and clinical practice:
Healthy adults: Most older adults without major health issues complete the test in 6 to 11 seconds.4
Fall risk cut-off: A meta-analysis identified 13.5 seconds as the most commonly used threshold for fall risk. At this point, the test is more specific (about 74 percent) than sensitive (about 31 percent), meaning it is better at confirming fall risk than ruling it out.5
Mobility limitations: Times above 20 to 30 seconds are consistently associated with serious mobility impairments and the likely need for assistance.
Population patterns
Osteoarthritis: Adults with lower extremity osteoarthritis, particularly those aged 80 and older, often record times of 13.5 seconds or more, reflecting slower performance and higher fall risk.6
Aging and chronic disease: Large-scale data from the Norwegian Tromsø Study show that timed up and go performance worsens steadily with age, especially after 65, and is notably poorer among individuals with arthritis or chronic conditions. 4
Clinical application: When to use the timed up and go test
For many clinicians, the timed up and go test is a go-to measure because it combines practicality with evidence. With only a chair, a stopwatch, and three meters of space, the setup takes less than a minute. The test is especially useful as:
A quick screening tool for fall risk, mobility limitations, and responsiveness to interventions.
A versatile assessment for older adults and individuals with conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, vestibular disorders, lower extremity osteoarthritis, or amputation.3
A practical option in telerehabilitation, where its simplicity allows for consistent use even outside the clinic.7
Because the test taps into everyday tasks, it resonates with patients and clinicians alike. It can highlight progress that might not be captured by strength testing alone, such as improved gait initiation or reduced reliance on an assistive device. For example, a patient moving from 22 seconds to 17 seconds may still test “outside of normal,” but that improvement reflects real gains in safety and independence.
Limitations to keep in mind
Despite its strengths, the timed up and go test is not without limits:
Ceiling and floor effects make it less useful for very high-functioning or severely impaired individuals.
Weak predictive ability means it should not be the sole tool for determining future fall risk.
Narrow focus means it may miss deficits in balance, cognition, or executive function.
For this reason, the timed up and go test is best viewed as one piece of the puzzle—a quick, reliable measure that becomes most powerful when combined with other assessments and clinical judgment.
Example: How to use the timed up and go test
If you are a rehabilitation professional, you know that sometimes the simplest tests can provide the clearest insights. Take the case of Mrs. Lee, a 75-year-old patient recovering from a mild stroke. She is now in her sixth week of outpatient therapy, and you want a functional measure that reflects her real-world mobility.
Step-by-step administration
Equipment: Standard armchair, floor marking at 3 meters, and a stopwatch.
Preparation: Mrs. Lee wears her regular shoes and uses her walker. She sits with her back fully supported against the chair.
Instructions: After one practice trial, you give the cue “Go.” Mrs. Lee stands, walks to the line at her normal pace, turns, walks back, and sits down again.
Timing: You start the stopwatch at “Go” and stop when her buttocks touch the chair. Her result is 18.2 seconds.
Interpretation and clinical plan
At 18.2 seconds, Mrs. Lee falls within the good mobility category (20 seconds or less), but above the typical range often reported in healthy older adults (6 to 11 seconds). This suggests she is largely independent, though ongoing gait and balance training remain important.
Your clinical plan might include:
Progressing balance exercises
Gradually reducing reliance on her walker
Scheduling a reassessment in 2–3 weeks
Tracking progress
On her next visit, you repeat the time up and go test. If her score improves to around 14 seconds, this reflects a meaningful functional gain. It provides a concrete marker of recovery that you can share not only with Mrs. Lee but also with her care team, reinforcing her progress, motivating continued participation, and helping guide the next stage of her rehabilitation plan.
Complementary assessments for a complete mobility profile
We’ve shared how the timed up and go test is a valuable measure of mobility, and mentioned how it should not be used as a standalone predictor of falls. On its own, the test provides only part of the picture. To build a more complete understanding of a patient’s functional status, you can pair it with other assessments that capture balance, gait, strength, and confidence:
Berg balance test: Measures static and dynamic balance across multiple tasks; helpful for identifying balance-specific deficits.
Functional gait assessment or dynamic gait index: Evaluates walking ability under different conditions, such as head turns or obstacle navigation.
30-second sit-to-stand test: Measures lower-extremity strength and endurance, providing insight into functional mobility and transfer ability.
Gait speed test (10-meter walk): Provides a simple, validated measure of walking speed, which strongly correlates with independence and fall risk.
Modified falls efficacy scale: Assesses a patient’s confidence in performing daily activities without falling; valuable for capturing the psychological component of fall risk that physical tests may miss.
Tip: Using the timed up and go alongside one or more of these measures helps you build a multidimensional profile of mobility and fall risk, ensuring that treatment decisions are guided by both performance and patient-reported data.
Turning results into better care
The timed up and go test is a simple, reliable tool that captures everyday mobility tasks, giving clinicians a quick way to track change over time and guide care decisions. To deepen your expertise, check out our Timed Up and Go and Dual-Task Timed Up and Go course, which highlights the rationale, evidence, and key steps for accurate administration. You can also explore related courses on functional mobility assessments and more in our continuing education library.
References
Podsiadlo, D., & Richardson, S. (1991). The timed "Up & Go": a test of basic functional mobility for frail elderly persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 39(2), 142–148. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1991946/
Morris, S., Morris, M. E., & Iansek, R. (2001). Reliability of measurements obtained with the Timed "Up & Go" test in people with Parkinson disease. Physical therapy, 81(2), 810–818. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11175678/
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. (2013, November 6). Timed Up and Go. Rehabilitation Measures Database. https://www.sralab.org/rehabilitation-measures/timed-and-go
Svinøy, O. E., Hilde, G., Bergland, A., & Strand, B. H. (2021). Timed Up and Go: Reference Values for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with and without Arthritis and Non-Communicable Diseases: The Tromsø Study. Clinical interventions in aging, 16, 335–343. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7914052/
Barry, E., Galvin, R., Keogh, C. et al. Is the Timed Up and Go test a useful predictor of risk of falls in community dwelling older adults: a systematic review and meta- analysis. BMC Geriatr 14, 14 (2014). https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2318-14-14
Zasadzka, E., Borowicz, A. M., Roszak, M., & Pawlaczyk, M. (2015). Assessment of the risk of falling with the use of timed up and go test in the elderly with lower extremity osteoarthritis. Clinical interventions in aging, 10, 1289–1298. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4535541/
Dias, J. F., Sampaio, R. F., Borges, P. R. T., Ocarino, J. M., & Resende, R. A. (2024). Timed up and go and 30-S chair-stand tests applied via video call are reliable and provide results similar to face-to-face assessment of older adults with different musculoskeletal conditions. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 40, 1072–1078. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39593414/
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