Thirty second chair stand test: Test-retest reliability, agreement and minimum detectable change in people with early-stage knee osteoarthritis.
Stephen Gill, Rachael Hely, Richard S Page and 3 others
PMID 35592902WHAT IT FOUND
The 30-second chair stand test is reliable for people with early knee osteoarthritis, but performance improves between the first and second attempts.
For an individual, a change of at least 2.5 stands is needed to confirm real progress beyond measurement error.
Key findings
01Test-retest reliability was excellent, with intraclass correlation coefficients exceeding 0.90 at both baseline and 6 months.
02Participants performed significantly better on the second attempt compared to the first, suggesting a learning or practice effect.
03To distinguish real change from measurement error, an individual's score must change by at least 2.3 to 2.8 stands.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Results apply specifically to people with mild radiographic knee osteoarthritis; measurement error may differ in more severe cases. A single assessor performed all tests, so inter-rater reliability was not assessed. The assessor was aware of previous scores, which could have introduced bias. Pain, fatigue, and motivation were not objectively measured during the test, though pain prevented 10% of participants from completing all attempts.
Declared interests
Funding was received by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists for the larger randomized controlled trial in which these participants were enrolled.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that an increase in stands between the first and second test represents clinical improvement. This is likely a practice effect. Only changes exceeding the minimum detectable change of approximately 2.5 stands should be considered real.