The Timed Up and Go Test as a Diagnostic Criterion in Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

INTRODUCTION: Normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a disease characterized by gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, and dementia. Our objectives were to define an average value of the test for the population, check the specificity and test sensitivity as evaluation criteria and diagnostic testing, and correlate with other already used more frequently. METHODS: A study conducted at the Neurosurgery Division of the Hospital do Servidor Publico Estadual de Sao Paulo in which a group of 30 patients with NPH was submitted to the Mini-Mental State Test Examination, Time Up and Go (TUG), test and Japanese scale for NPH before the Tap Test 3 hours and 72 hours after the Tap Test. After being subjected to ventriculoperitoneal shunt, patients were evaluated 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. A control group was used composed of 30 individuals of the same age and who had no diagnosis of NPH who were submitted to the TUG test to determine an average, which was compared with that of patients with NPH. RESULTS: TUG did not show good correlation with other tests used, but there was excellent specificity (0.967) and sensitivity (0.933) for cut-off value of 16.5 seconds for the diagnosis of NPH. CONCLUSIONS: TUG is a good test for the diagnosis of NPH because there is very good specificity and sensitivity, with a mean value of 16.5 seconds as the cut-off.