Correlation analysis between the test times for dual-task timed up-and-go test and geriatric depression risk in the elderly / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the correlation between depression risk and the test time for dual-task timed up-and-go(TUG)test in the elderly.Methods:A total of 193 elderly volunteers aged 60 years and over who lived in the Nanjing community of Jiangsu Province were recruited.The Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS)was used to screen for geriatric depression.The single-task TUG(TUG-single), TUG with additional operational tasks(TUG-manual)and TUG with additional cognitive tasks(TUG-cognitive)were tested in all subjects.The differences in test times taken to complete TUG-single, TUG-manual and TUG-cognitive tests were analyzed by ANOVA.The correlation of GDS scores with test time for TUG-single, TUG-manual, TUG-cognitive was analyzed by using Pearson's correlation.Results:The average test times for TUG-cognitive and TUG-manual tests were longer than that for TUG-single test( P<0.0001). The higher the GDS score, the longer the TUG-single test time, with a significantly positive correlation between GDS and the test time for TUG-single( r=0.2261, P=0.0016). Similarly, GDS score showed significantly positive correlations with the test time for TUG-manual( r=0.2359, P=0.0010)and the TUG-cognitive test time( r=0.1946, P=0.0067). Conclusions:The increase of depression risk is significantly and positively correlated with the prolongation of the TUG test time in the elderly.The TUG test can be used to assess the functional mobility in elderly patients with depression.