How Well are you Aging?

Sit-to-stand: The simple test that reveals how you’re ageing

By Jasmin Fox-Skelly

The sit-to-stand test takes just 30 seconds to complete, but its results can provide profound insights into your health.

Getting out of a chair may seem too trivial a task to pay much attention to, but your ability to do so actually reveals a great deal about your health. To assess this, doctors use the sit-to-stand test (STS), which measures how many times you can rise to a standing position from seated within 30 seconds. It’s commonly performed in GP surgeries, or community settings when screening for health issues amongst older people, but it can also easily be performed at home.

“It’s a really helpful test, because it tells us so much about how well people are functioning,” says Jugdeep Dhesi, a consultant geriatrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London and professor of geriatric medicine at Kings College London, in the UK. “It tells us about their strength, their balance and their flexibility. We know that there’s some studies that suggest that it can help to inform whether people are at risk of things like falls, cardiovascular issues or even at a higher risk of dying.”

All you need to do the test at home is a chair with a straight back and no arm rests, and a stopwatch or timer (most modern phones have this function).

To do the test, simply sit in the middle of the chair, cross your arms and place both of your hands on opposing shoulders. Keep your back straight with your feet on the floor. Then press your stopwatch’s start button and rise to a full standing position before sitting down again. Repeat this for 30 seconds, counting how many times you can come to a full standing position.

A low score on the sit-to-stand test can be used to identify people who might be at risk of worse health outcomes, like falls or complications after surgery

The US public health agency the Centres Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has outlined the average results for scores which if they are below the average could indicate a risk for poor health outcomes, such as falls. For example, for a person aged between 60-64, the average is 14 for a man, and 12 for a woman. If you are aged 85-89, however, the average score is eight. However, these average scores do not take into account a person’s medical history – for example if they have recently undergone surgery or have an injury.

Find out how you compare
According to the CDC, the average STS test scores for each age group are:

• 60-64 the average score is 14 for men, and 12 for women

• 65–69 the average score is 12 for men, and 11 for women.

• 70-74 the average score is 12 for men, and 10 for women.

• 75–79 the average score is 11 for men, and 10 for women.

• 80–84 the average score is 10 for men, and 9 for women.

• 85–89 the average score is 8 for both, men and women.

• 90–94 the average score is 7 for men, and 4 for women.

Original article can be found here.