Intra- and Inter-Rater Reproducibility of the Face-to-Face and Tele-Assessment of Timed-up and Go and 5-Times Sit-to-Stand Tests in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Timed-Up and Go (TUG) and 5-Times Sit-to-Stand (5STS) are frequently used in clinical practice for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the study was to investigate the intra- and inter-rater reproducibility of the TUG and 5STS as both face-to-face and tele-assessment tests in patients with COPD. Forty-four patients with diagnosed COPD were included. Evaluations were carried out face-to-face and tele-assessment (synchronized and asynchronized). Inter-reliability between face-to-face and tele-assessment was excellent for TUG (ICC = 0.977) and 5STS (ICC = 0.970). Inter-reliability between two tele-raters was also excellent for TUG (ICC = 0.995) with the SEM = 0.04, SEM95% = 0.08, and SDC95% = 0.10 s, and 5STS (ICC = 0.990) with the SEM = 0.06, SEM95% = 0.12, and SDC95% = 0.18 s. Intra-rater reliability of the tele-assessment (synchronized) was excellent for TUG (ICC = 0.976) and 5STS (ICC = 0.964). The SEM, SEM95%, and SDC95% values were computed as 0.08, 0.16, and 0.22 s for TUG, and 0.11, 0.22, and 0.31 s for 5STS, respectively. The TUG and 5STS tests are reproducible tele-assessment measures in patients with COPD with excellent intra- and inter-rater reproducibility. The authors recommend these tests as practical assessment tools in patients with COPD at home for tele-health interventions. The reported SEM, SEM95%, and SDC95% values can be used as a minimum change that needs to be observed to be confident that the observed change is real and not, potentially, a product of measurement error.