APP REVIEW: Sit to Stand

By Juan José Rodríguez-Juan and Juan Diego Ruiz-Cárdenas @STS_App
APP REVIEW

NAME OF THE MOBILE APPLICATION

Sit to Stand

CATEGORY OF THE MOBILE APPLICATION

Health and Fitness

PLATFORM

Compatible with iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Pro. It requires iOS 10 or later.

COST

4.99 USD; 5,49 €.

ABOUT THE APP

The sit-to-stand (STS) test is a widely accepted physical marker of the functional status in a variety of clinical populations (1-3). Time to complete the STS test is the primary outcome of this test, but leg power and velocity recorded during the test may also detect functional changes that relate to aging or disease.

The STS can be taken out by a clinician and requires expensive laboratory devices such as force platforms, accelerometers, force transducers or motion capture systems, which remain complex, difficult and time consuming to analyse. The ‘Sit to Stand’ Mobile App overcomes these challenges by reporting measurements of leg power, velocity and time in an easy and fast way. The outcomes reported by the STS App can be used by clinicians to detect age-related functional decline and determine functional ability in different populations in their daily life.

The STS App has been scientifically validated twice (4, 5).

USE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

Using the camera on a smartphone with the app open, the clinician can record the sagittal plane of a single STS movement and follow instructions provided by the STS App. A clinician can store this video and analyse it using the app by selecting two video frames: one at the beginning and another at the end of the test. Automatically, the App measures the leg power, velocity and time during a single STS, and provides the clinician with the results.

PROS:

  • Scientific validity and reliability
  • Affordability
  • Portability
  • Fast and easy analysis

CONS:

  • Paid service
  • Available only on iOS
  • No values of minimal detectable change and minimally clinically important difference are still determined

STS Mobile App screenshot:

References

  1. Wagner KH, Cameron-Smith D, Wessner B, Franzke B. Biomarkers of Aging: From Function to Molecular Biology. Nutrients. 2016;8(6).
  2. Bowser B, O’Rourke S, Brown CN, White L, Simpson KJ. Sit-to-stand biomechanics of individuals with multiple sclerosis. Clinical biomechanics. 2015;30(8):788-94.
  3. Martinez-Garcia MDM, Rodriguez-Juan JJ, Ruiz-Cardenas JD. Influence of sex gap on muscle strength and functional mobility in patients with cystic fibrosis. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme. 2019.
  4. Ruiz-Cardenas JD, Rodriguez-Juan JJ, Smart RR, Jakobi JM, Jones GR. Validity and reliability of an iPhone App to assess time, velocity and leg power during a sit-to-stand functional performance test. Gait & posture. 2018;59:261-6.
  5. Orange STM, J.W.; Liefeith, A.; Jordan, A.R. Validity of various portable devices to measure sit-to-stand velocity and power in older adults. Gait & posture. 2019;(In press).
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Competing interests
Juan José Rodríguez-Juan and Juan Diego Ruiz-Cárdenas are the creators of the App and may benefit financially from purchases of the app.
Twitter: @STS_App
Juan José Rodríguez-Juan is a profesor of Physical Therapy degree of the Catholic Universitiy of Murcia, Spain. He is focused in physical therapy in sports and fundamentals of physical conditioning in physical therapy. His research activity is centered on biomechanical factors influencing activities of daily living in clinical populations. Email: jdruiz@ucam.edu
Juan Diego Ruiz-Cárdenas is a profesor of Physical Therapy degree of the Catholic Universitiy of Murcia, Spain. He is focused in therapeutic exercise interventions for clinical populations and research methodology in physical therapy. His research activity is centered on biomechanical factors influencing activities of daily living in clinical populations.

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