Conclusion The Timed Up and Go test has limited ability to predict  falls in community dwelling elderly and should not be used in isolation to identify individuals at high risk of falls in this setting
Background The Timed Up and Go test ( TUG ) is a commonly used screening tool to assist clinicians to identify patients at risk of falling .
The purpose of this systematic review and meta- analysis is to determine the overall predictive value of the TUG in community-dwelling older adults .
Cluster randomised trial of a targeted multifactorial intervention to prevent falls among older people in hospital
Objective To determine the efficacy of a targeted multifactorial falls prevention programme in elderly care wards with relatively short lengths of stay . Design Cluster r and omised trial . Setting 24 elderly care wards in 12 hospitals in Sydney , Australia . Participants 3999 patients , mean age 79 years , with a median hospital stay of seven days . Interventions A nurse and physiotherapist each worked for 25 hours a week for three months in all intervention wards . They provided a targeted multifactorial intervention that included a risk assessment of falls , staff and patient education , drug review , modification of bedside and ward environments , an exercise programme , and alarms for selected patients . Main outcome measure Falls during hospital stay . Results Intervention and control wards were similar at baseline for previous rates of falls and individual patient characteristics . Overall , 381 falls  occurred during the study . No difference was found in fall rates during follow-up between intervention and control wards : respectively , 9.26 falls per 1000 bed days and 9.20 falls per 1000 bed days ( P=0.96 ) . The incidence rate ratio adjusted for individual lengths of stay and previous fall rates in the ward was 0.96 ( 95 % confidence interval 0.72 to 1.28 ) . Conclusion A targeted multifactorial falls prevention programme was not effective among older people in hospital wards with relatively short lengths of stay . Trial registration Australian New Zeal and Clinical Trials Registry ACTRNO 12605000467639
Conclusion The Timed Up and Go test has limited ability to predict  falls in community dwelling elderly and should not be used in isolation to identify individuals at high risk of falls in this setting
Background The Timed Up and Go test ( TUG ) is a commonly used screening tool to assist clinicians to identify patients at risk of falling .
The purpose of this systematic review and meta- analysis is to determine the overall predictive value of the TUG in community-dwelling older adults .