Date of Award
Summer 2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Exercise Science
First Advisor
Daniel Pinto
Second Advisor
Marie Bement
Third Advisor
Lutfiyya Muhammad
Abstract
Performance-based outcome measures are used by clinical and research communities to identify health risks, assess change in physical function over time, and assess the success of treatment. With the onset of COVID-19, remote assessments were sought as alternatives to in-person testing, however there is inadequate literature on the validity of remote performance-based outcome measurement to assess physical function. Current literature is limited to small cohort studies, and none take advantage of novel comparison of agreement methodology. This study assessed the level of agreement between three methods of performance-based outcome data collection: in-person data collection, remote synchronous data collection, and remote asynchronous data collection of the 4-meter walk, timed up and go, and the five repetition sit-to-stand assessments. The need to validate these modes of data collection reflects a post-COVID-19 world where people can perform many previously out of the house tasks, at home. Validating the remote delivery of performance-based outcome measures will help remove potential barriers of assessment. Fifty-eight participants completed the 4-meter walk, timed up and go, and five repetition sit-to-stand assessments in a randomized order based on mode of delivery, which consisted of in-person, remote synchronous, and remote asynchronous assessments. Participants completed each in-person assessment five times while the remote assessments were completed twice. Analysis of the complete data set with Bland-Altman comparison of agreement demonstrated no statistically significant difference between the synchronous or asynchronous delivery of the 4-meter walk when compared to the in-person assessment. When three statistical outliers were removed, all comparisons showed no statistical difference, demonstrating that they are within acceptable bounds of deviation. The results demonstrate the validity of the remote synchronous and asynchronous administrations of the 4-meter walk, timed up and go, and five repetition sit-to-stand. These conclusions allow for the delivery of the 4-meter walk, timed up and go, and five repetition sit-to-stand remotely, but levels of agreement decreased the longer participants took to complete a task. The findings of the study allow for the remote synchronous and asynchronous administration of the assessments while also providing a basis for more population specific research to increase the accuracy of the assessments.