The Timed Up and Go test times a person standing up from a chair, walking 3 meters, turning, walking back, and sitting down. In older adults, 12 seconds or more flags a risk of falling. Enter a time to see its band, learn how to run and read the test, and record the result with the free template.
TUG result template
FreeTIMED UP AND GO RESULT Date and time: [Date; time of day] Patient: [Name or ID, age] Reason: [Annual fall screen, after a fall, physical therapy evaluation, or follow-up] Tested by: [Name, credentials] SET-UP Chair: [Standard armchair with arms; seat height] Distance: [3 meters or 10 feet, marked on the floor] Walking aid: [None, cane, walker, or other; same aid as last time, yes or no] Footwear: [Usual shoes, slippers, bare feet, or other] Practice walk: [One untimed practice walk, or none] RESULT Time: [Seconds, to one decimal place] Band: [Normal, at risk for falling, limited mobility, or dependent in most mobility] Cutoff used: [12 seconds per STEADI, or the cutoff your service uses] Earlier times: [Dates and seconds, with the aid used each time] WHAT I SAW Standing up: [One try without arms, pushed up with the arms, several tries, or needed help] Walking: [Slow tentative pace, short strides, little or no arm swing, shuffling, or none of these] Balance: [Loss of balance, steadying on walls or furniture, or steady throughout] Turning: [Number of steps, en bloc turning, pause before the turn, or smooth] Sitting down: [Controlled, or dropped into the chair] Walking aid use: [Used correctly, used incorrectly, or not used] READING THE RESULT Summary: [What the time and the observations show together] Falls in the past year: [Number and how they happened, or none] PLAN Next step: [Full fall risk assessment, physical therapy, walking aid review, home safety check, or no change] Repeat TUG: [Date or interval, with the same chair, aid, and footwear]
Enter the result to see its band. Nothing you enter leaves this page.
Seat the person in a standard armchair, back against the chair, with a line marked 3 meters or 10 feet away. In their usual footwear and with their usual walking aid, they stand up, walk to the line at a normal pace, turn, walk back, and sit down. Time from “Go” until they’re seated again.
Use it for
A standard armchair, a clear walkway, a line on the floor 3 meters or 10 feet from the front of the chair, and a stopwatch.
Avoid: A low sofa, an exam table, or a wheeled office chair. A different seat height changes the time.
The person sits back in the chair with their arms on the armrests. Then say the instructions the same way each time.
Avoid: Telling the person to go as fast as they can. STEADI asks for a normal pace, and a rushed time can’t be compared with its cutoff.
Start the stopwatch on the word “Go” and stop it when the person is seated again.
Avoid: Starting the watch when the person starts to rise. The delay before standing is part of the test.
The time tells you how slow; the observations tell you why. STEADI asks you to watch posture, gait, stride length, and sway.
Avoid: Recording a time with no observations. Shuffling, little arm swing, and en bloc turning can point to a neurological problem, such as parkinsonism, that needs evaluation.
Compare the time with the 12-second cutoff and with the average for the person’s age, then weigh it with their falls and what you saw.
Avoid: Calling a person safe because the time is under 12 seconds. Someone with two falls this year needs the full assessment whatever their time.
The TUG is quick to repeat, which makes it a good measure of progress in therapy or after a change in medication.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Falls clinic, new referral after a fall, tested in the clinic hallway
Standard armchair with arms, seat 46 cm, against the wall. Line taped at 3 meters. No walking aid; he doesn’t own one. His usual lace-up walking shoes. One untimed practice walk.
Time 16.4 seconds. At risk for falling on the 12-second STEADI cutoff, and over the 15-second mark the World Falls Guidelines use for intermediate risk after a fall. First TUG on record.
Stood on the second try, pushing on both armrests. Slow tentative pace and short strides on the way out; arm swing normal, no shuffling. Paused at the line, turned in 5 steps, and put his left hand on the wall. Dropped the last few centimeters into the chair.
78-year-old man. A slow time with an arm-assisted rise and an unsteady turn points to leg weakness and poor balance when turning. Normal arm swing and no shuffling or en bloc turn: no signs of parkinsonism. Falls in the past year: one, in September, while turning at the kitchen counter; no injury; got up alone. Since then he has felt unsteady when he turns.
Physical therapy referral for leg strength, balance, and turning practice, twice a week for 8 weeks, then a home program. Therapist to assess whether a cane helps. Rest of the fall risk assessment done today and recorded separately: standing blood pressure, medications, vision, and home. Repeat TUG in 8 weeks with the same chair and shoes.
Family practice, annual visit, after a yes to worry about falling
Exam room armchair with arms, seat 45 cm. Line taped at 10 feet in the corridor. No walking aid. Running shoes. One untimed practice walk.
Time 9.2 seconds. Normal, under the 12-second STEADI cutoff and close to the average of about 8 seconds for her age group. First TUG on record.
Stood in one try without using her arms. Steady, even pace with a normal stride and arm swing. Turned smoothly in 3 steps. No loss of balance, no reaching for the wall. Sat down with control.
68-year-old woman. Normal time and normal gait. Falls in the past year: none. She worries about falling since her sister broke a hip in the spring, and has cut back on her evening walks.
No therapy needed. Reassured with her result; advised to keep walking and to add a strength and balance class twice a week. Her sister’s hip fracture noted for her bone health review. Ask the fall screening questions again next year; repeat the TUG sooner if she falls or feels unsteady.
The clock starts on “Go,” not when the person begins to move. Hesitation and a slow rise are part of what the test measures.
A lower chair, a new walker, slippers instead of shoes, or a shorter walkway can change the time by seconds. Record the set-up and keep it the same.
Two people at 15 seconds can need very different care. Note how they stood, walked, turned, and sat, and whether they reached for the wall.
The TUG predicts falls only modestly. Ask about falls in the past year, and go on to the full assessment when either is positive.
STEADI’s cutoff is for a normal pace. A rushed walk is a different test, and it adds risk for someone unsteady.
Vero Scribe records the TUG result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: the time, the walking aid, what you saw on the walk and the turn, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
The TUG is a quick test of mobility and fall risk. The person stands up from a chair, walks 3 meters or 10 feet, turns, walks back, and sits down, and you time it in seconds. It was published by Podsiadlo and Richardson in 1991, and the CDC uses it in its STEADI fall prevention toolkit.
Mark a line 3 meters or 10 feet from a standard armchair. The person sits back in the chair in their usual shoes, with their usual walking aid nearby. On “Go,” they stand, walk to the line at a normal pace, turn, walk back, and sit down. Start timing on “Go,” stop when they’re seated, and stay beside them throughout.
Under 12 seconds is normal for an older adult living at home. Healthy adults average about 8 seconds in their 60s, 9 seconds in their 70s, and 10 to 11 seconds in their 80s. Younger, healthy adults usually finish in well under 10 seconds.
The CDC’s STEADI form uses 12 seconds or more. Other cutoffs are in use: 13.5 seconds or more in one study of older adults living at home, and more than 15 seconds in the 2022 World Falls Guidelines. Whatever the cutoff, the TUG alone predicts falls only modestly, so weigh it with the person’s fall history.
In the 1991 study, people who took under 20 seconds were mostly independent in basic transfers, such as getting in and out of a chair. Between 20 and 30 seconds, mobility varied a lot. People who took 30 seconds or more mostly needed help with mobility, including the bath or shower, and didn’t go out alone.
The TUG is a timed performance test of standing, walking, and turning. The Morse Fall Scale is a nursing score of fall risk in hospital, from history and observation, with no timing. The 30-second chair stand counts how many times a person can stand up without using their arms, a measure of leg strength. STEADI uses the TUG, the chair stand, and the 4-stage balance test together.
Physicians, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, medical assistants, and other trained staff. It needs no special equipment beyond a chair, tape, and a stopwatch, and takes under 3 minutes. Whoever gives it should stay close enough to steady the person.
Yes. It’s a published test procedure, free to use without permission or fees. The CDC’s STEADI form and instruction video are free to print and use, and the recording template on this page is free to copy or download.
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For a slow TUG: falls history, chair stand, balance, standing blood pressure, medications, and the plan.
Evaluations and visits that tie test results to function.
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