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Background and purpose: The ability to perform sit-to-stand from a chair and getting down and up from the floor, or the ability to safely perform a floor transfer are important transitional activities for independent living. The sit-to-stand maneuver is frequently performed by community-dwelling older adults and is routinely evaluated as a part of geriatric physical therapy assessment. Conversely, a floor transfer is rarely performed by older adults or addressed by clinicians, even when working with frail patients who live alone and are at high risk for falls. Accordingly, the specific aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the concurrent, predictive, and discriminant validity of the five times sit-to-stand (5xSTS) test against 3-point floor transfer performance.

Methods: A total of 46 community-dwelling adults, ages 65-96 years, were recruited using a stratified sampling technique based on self-reported levels of floor transfer ability: independent (n = 16); assisted (n = 15); and dependent (n = 15). Forty-five of the 46 participated in the data collection process. Participants were first assessed for the 5xSTS test and were categorized based on performance as unable to perform (n = 14), poor performance (>13.6 seconds), or good performance (≤13.6 seconds). Participants then performed the 3-point floor transfer test and were classified based on results as independent (n = 18), assisted (n = 10), or dependent (n = 17). Spearman correlations were calculated to assess the concurrent validity for the 5xSTS testing procedure against 3-point floor transfer performance. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to: 1) determine the discriminant validity of 5xSTS test outcome performance among groups that differ in 3-point floor transfer test performance; and 2) examine the significance level of the socio-demographic data.

Results: Moderate to strong positive correlations were found between the 3-point floor transfer test and the categorical performance outcomes of the 5xSTS test (rho ranged from 0.67 to 0.88, p < .001). A strong negative correlation was found between 5xSTS scores and the 3-point floor transfer test (rho = 0.86, p < .001). There was moderate sensitivity (71%) and strong specificity (93%) for the 5xSTS test to predict floor transfer performance. The outcomes of 5xSTS performance differed significantly among 3-point floor transfer performance outcome groups. Older adults who were unable to perform 5xSTS test were also dependent in floor transfer performance. In contrast, older adults who demonstrated good performance in the 5xSTS test were independent in floor transfer performance (p ≤ 0.012).

Conclusion: Floor transfer is a highly important safety maneuver for older adults, although it is rarely performed and assessed. This study documents that the 5xSTS test displays concurrent, predictive, and discriminative validity properties, making it a potentially useful initial screening tool to predict floor transfer ability. Failure to complete the 5xSTS test may also be a reliable indicator of floor transfer performance dependency among community-dwelling older adults.