Comparison of Functional Performance Across Age Groups in Older Adults: A Community-Based Study.

Objectives: To investigate the association among 5 clinical functional performance tests-single-leg stance, gait speed, tandem gait, Timed Up and Go (TUG), and forward step- as indicators of functional decline in older adults, and to examine whether these associations vary across different age groups.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: Data were collected from 191 community-dwelling older adults, stratified into 4 age groups: 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, and 75-79 years.

Methods: Lower-limb function was assessed using 5 clinical tests: single-leg stance (≥15 s vs <15 s), gait speed (>0.8 m/s vs ≤0.8 m/s), tandem gait (below vs within/above standard), TUG (≤10.0 s vs >10.0 s), and forward step (below vs within/above standard). Binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between age group and performance on each test, adjusting for clinical, sociodemographic, and behavioral factors.

Results: Functional decline was first detected through the single-leg stance test, with participants aged 65-69 being 3.4 times more likely to show impaired performance than those aged 60-64 (odds ratio [OR], 3.41; 95% CI, 1.18-9.78; P = .02). Decline in forward step performance emerged in the 70-74 age group, who were 3.8 times more likely to exhibit poor results (OR, 3.75; 95% CI, 1.17-12.03; P = .02). Among individuals aged 75-79, odds of impaired performance were 3.5 times higher for the tandem gait test (OR, 3.45; 95% CI, 1.20-9.98; P = .02) and almost 5 times higher for the TUG (OR, 4.97; 95% CI, 1.65-14.99; P < .01).

Conclusion And Implications: The relationship between functional performance and functional decline varied by age. The single-leg stance test identified early deficits starting at 65 years, whereas significant associations for the forward step, TUG, and tandem gait were observed only in later age groups. These findings support the use of the single-leg stance as an early screening tool for functional decline in primary care settings.