Researchers developed and examined the reliability and validity of the Colorado Limb Donning-Timed Up and Go (COLD-TUG) test, expanding the TUG test to account for the time required to don a lower-limb prosthesis in mobility assessment. They compared the COLD-TUG test results among socket-prosthesis users with those who have a bone-anchored limb.
The results indicated that the COLD-TUG test accurately measured the prosthesis-donning burden, which could provide insights into functional abilities and quality of life, according to the study’s authors. Having a bone-anchored limb was associated with a shorter donning time compared with use of a socket prosthesis.
Two groups of participants with unilateral lower-limb amputations, 15 socket prosthesis users and 22 people with bone-anchored limbs, participated. The COLD-TUG test measured the number of seconds required to don the prosthesis, get up from a standard chair, walk three meters, turn around, walk back to the chair, and sit down again. The researchers analyzed group differences, intrarater reliability, and concurrent validity of the test and found no significant differences between the groups in terms of baseline characteristics.
They concluded that the intrarater reliability of the COLD-TUG test was excellent. The validity between the COLD-TUG test and the TUG test in the bone-anchored limb group was good; those participants had a significantly shorter mean COLD-TUG time (16.6 ± 5.6 seconds) compared with participants in the socket-prosthesis group (85.3 ± 61.4 seconds).
The study, “Colorado Limb Donning-Timed Up and Go (COLD-TUG) test in lower-extremity amputation: Less donning time with osseointegrated bone-anchored prosthetic limb,” was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
