Comparisons of lower extremity strength, cognition, and ankle mobility according to the 8.5seconds cut-off point for the 8-foot up-and-go test in elderly women

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the 8.5seconds cut-off of the 8-foot up-and-go test as a predictor of falling and a good discriminator of fallers and non-fallers in women in their 60s to 80s.METHODS:The final subjects of this study were 98 elderly women from six senior cen ters of B metropolitan city. The 8-fo ot up-and-go test evaluated agility and dynamic balance. The chair-stand test measured the muscle strength for of the lower body. Ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion were measured to assess the ankle mobility of the subjects in this study. RESULTS:The below 8.5seconds group showed significantly low values in age and high values in chair- stand (times/30 s), plantar flexion (°), and K-MMSE (score) compared to the over 8.5seconds group. This group was significantly faster compared to the over 8.5seconds group. In the below 8.5seconds group, only plantar flexion (°) of all the items showed significantly higher values among those in their 60s compared to those in their 70s and 80s.