Reliability of Wearable Sensors Single and Dual-Task Timed Up and Go Test Among Community-Dwelling Older Women

Background Approximately one-third of community-dwelling older adults experience a fall each year, and older women are a fall-prone group with approximately twice the rate and number of falls as men. The single-task timed up and go test (ST-TUG) is a widely utilised tool for the assessment of mobility and fall risk. However, its capacity to discern minor gait impairments may be constrained in high-functioning older adult populations. Objective The objective of this study was to make a comparison between the re-test reliability of gait parameters in ST-TUG versus dual-task timed up and go test (DT-TUG) in community-dwelling healthy elderly women, using wearable inertial sensors, with a view to assessing their potential value in fall risk screening. Methods A total of 25 cognitively healthy female subjects, aged 70.09 ± 3.52 years, were recruited to complete the ST-TUG and DT-TUG within a two-day period. A total of 21 parameters, encompassing completion time, spatiotemporal variables, gait coefficients of variation, and turn-related indicators, were extracted by sensors. Subsequently, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), the standard error of measurement (SEM and %SEM), and the 95% minimum detectable change (MDC ₉₅ ) were calculated to assess the re-test reliability. Results Gait spatiotemporal parameters demonstrated excellent to good remeasurement agreement (ICC > 0.75) in both the ST and DT conditions, whereas gait variability and turn-related metrics exhibited poor reliability (ICC > 0.75) in both the ST and DT conditions, with a marginal increase in measurement error in the DT condition. The DT-TUG exhibited elevated sensitivity to fall-related gait disturbances. Conclusions The utilisation of wearable sensors in conjunction with ST-TUG and DT-TUG has been demonstrated to be a reliable method for the consistent measurement of core gait metrics in older women. Despite the limited retest reliability of variability and turn-related metrics, the DT-TUG can be a sensitive tool for early fall risk screening when combined with meticulous gait analysis.