Timed Up and Go Test (TUG)
What It Measures
The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test checks how easily someone can move around. It involves a simple task where a person stands up from a chair, walks a short distance, turns around, walks back, and sits down again, while a clinician times how long it takes. It's a quick way to see how a person's balance and everyday mobility are holding up.
Because it takes only a couple of minutes and needs no special training or equipment, therapists use the TUG across nearly every setting (home health, hospitals, skilled nursing, outpatient clinics, and telehealth) with people of all ages, though it's most often used to screen fall risk in older adults or in conditions like stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson's disease. A commonly cited cutoff of 12–13.5 seconds flags higher fall risk, though clinicians are cautioned not to rely on the TUG alone to make that call.
