Preventing or delaying the onset of physical frailty is an increasingly important goal because more individuals are living well into their 8th and 9th decades. We describe the development and validation of a functional fitness test battery that can assess the physiologic parameters that support physical mobility in older adults. The procedures involved in the test development were (a) developing a theoretical framework for the test items, (b) establishing an advisory panel of experts, (c) determining test selection criteria, (d) selecting the test items, and (e) establishing test reliability and validity. The complete battery consists of 6 items (and one alternative) designed to assess the physiologic parameters associated with independent functioning—lower and upper body strength, aerobic endurance, lower and upper body flexibility, and agility/dynamic balance. We also assessed body mass index as an estimate of body composition. We concluded that the tests met the established criteria for scientific rigor and feasibility for use in common community settings.

Measuring lower body strength is critical in evaluating the functional performance of older adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability and the criterion-related and construct validity of a 30-s chair stand as a measure of lower body strength in adults over the age of 60 years. Seventy-six community-dwelling older adults (M age = 70.5 years) volunteered to participate in the study, which involved performing two 30-s chair-stand tests and two maximum leg-press tests, each conducted on separate days 2-5 days apart. Test-retest intraclass correlations of .84 for men and .92 for women, utilizing one-way analysis of variance procedures appropriate for a single trial, together with a nonsignificant change in scores from Day 1 testing to Day 2, indicate that the 30-s chair stand has good stability reliability. A moderately high correlation between chair-stand performance and maximum weight-adjusted leg-press performance for both men and women (r = .78 and .71, respectively) supports the criterion-related validity of the chair stand as a measure of lower body strength. Construct (or discriminant) validity of the chair stand was demonstrated by the test's ability to detect differences between various age and physical activity level groups. As expected, chair-stand performance decreased significantly across age groups in decades--from the 60s to the 70s to the 80s (p < .01) and was significantly lower for low-active participants than for high-active participants (p < .0001). It was concluded that the 30-s chair stand provides a reasonably reliable and valid indicator of lower body strength in generally active, community-dwelling older adults.

The proposed standards provide easy-to-use, previously unavailable methods for evaluating physical capacity in older adults relative to that associated with physical independence. Most importantly, the standards can be used in planning interventions that target specific areas of weakness, thus reducing risk for premature loss of mobility and independence.

This article describes a nationwide study conducted to develop normative performance data for community-residing older adults. The physical parameters assessed are strength, aerobic endurance, flexibility, and agility/balance. Body mass index was also assessed as an estimate of body composition. The sample comprised 7,183 participants from 267 sites in 21 states. Summary data (M, SD, and percentiles) are reported separately for men and women in 5-year age groups. Results reveal a pattern of decline across most age groups on all variables. ANOVA and post hoc comparisons indicated a significant main effect for age on all variables and that most 5-year age-group declines were significant (p < .007). ANOVAs also revealed a significant main effect for gender on all test items (p < .0001): Men scored better on strength, aerobic endurance, and agility/balance; women scored better on flexibility. The data provide information about normal variations within and usual rates of change across age groups, and they provide a database for subsequent evaluation of individual and group performance.

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