Five Times Sit to Stand Test (5xSTS)
The five times sit to stand test times how long someone takes to stand from a chair and sit back down five times. Faster is better, so a lower time is an improvement. epnote records it in seconds to one decimal place.
Last reviewed
What this measure records
Time to complete five full stands, in seconds to one decimal place. Lower is better.
It is in epnote's sarcopenia assessment template alongside SARC-F, grip strength and gait speed, following the EWGSOP2 sequence.
Because it is timed, epnote's assessment screen offers a stopwatch on its test card, and one tap drops the reading into the value.
Protocol
epnote does not hold a transcribed standardised protocol for this measure yet. The detail that matters clinically, such as chair height, arm position, counting rules and course length, is not in this repository's research, so it is not written here.
Normative values
epnote does not hold sourced normative values for this measure yet. Rather than publish a table from memory, this section is empty until the numbers are transcribed from a primary source and checked against it, the same way the change thresholds below were.
Change thresholds
A change on any measure can be the client or it can be the test. The minimal detectable change (MDC) is the smallest change larger than the measurement error. The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is the smallest change a client would notice as worthwhile.
Only thresholds that have been read from the primary paper and checked against it appear below. Everything else is withheld.
| Population | Threshold | Value | Measured in | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC | 2.25 s | Older adults without sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC | 2.87 s | Older adults with and without sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC | 3.12 s | Older adults with sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC% | 19.2 % | Older adults without sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC% | 23.3 % | Older adults with and without sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
| Older adults (long-term care) | MDC% | 24 % | Older adults with sarcopenia | Yin L, Sawaya Y, Sato R, et al (2023) Minimal Detectable Changes in the Five Times Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Japanese Adults with Sarcopenia Requiring Long-Term Care. Medicina. doi:10.3390/medicina59112019 |
A threshold belongs to the population it was measured in. Check the MCID and MDC calculator to compare a client's own change against these.
- MDC, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
- MDC, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
- MDC, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
- MDC%, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
- MDC%, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
- MDC%, Older adults (long-term care): Restricted to the studied long-term-care/daycare-rehabilitation context. Confidence level inferred from the paper's own formula, which uses 1.96; not stated as a percentage.
Reporting this measure in a funder report
- Write the test name in full the first time, then the short form if you must.
- Write the unit in words: seconds, metres, repetitions.
- Put the change in daily life before the number.
- Give the baseline and the current value, so the reader can see the change without doing the arithmetic.
- Say how the test was done if anything about it was unusual, such as a walking aid or a different chair.
Related measures
- The 30-second chair stand, which counts repetitions in a fixed time instead, so its direction is the opposite.
- The chair stand component of the Short Physical Performance Battery.
Questions
- Can arms be used in the five times sit to stand test?
- Whether the arms are folded, on the thighs or pushing off changes the time, so record what you allowed and keep it the same between tests. epnote has a note field on the test card for it.
- Which is better, five times sit to stand or the 30-second chair stand?
- Neither is better in general. The 30-second chair stand suits a client who can do several repetitions comfortably; five times sit to stand suits a client for whom five is already a challenge. The important thing is to repeat whichever you choose.
- What change on the five times sit to stand is larger than measurement error?
- The change thresholds section on this page lists every verified threshold with its population and citation. Note that a threshold measured in long-term care does not transfer to a community-dwelling client.
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epnote is report software for Australian exercise physiologists. Enter your measurements once and it works out the change and lays the report out, ready to sign. What you write about a client stays on your device.
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Sources
Everything on this page comes from one of these. epnote writes nothing clinical from memory.
- epnote measures library: the unit, direction and decimal places each measure is recorded in
data/measures.ts and data/tests-listed.ts - epnote listed tests and batteries research, which sources each measure's unit and direction
docs/research/tests-listed.md - epnote threshold verification pack, 25 October 2026: all 83 evidence rows checked against their primary papers, 57 cleared on 26 October 2026
docs/research/2026-10-25-threshold-verification.md - epnote NDIS EP report template research, for the plain-language rules on reporting a measurement
docs/research/ndis/ndis-ep-report-templates-2026-10-20.md
What this page does not cover yet
- Normative values by age and sex for Five Times Sit to Stand Test (5xSTS) are not in the repo's research, so that section is empty.
- A transcribed standardised protocol for Five Times Sit to Stand Test (5xSTS) is not in the repo's research, so that section is empty.
- The brief's falls risk and functional cut-off section needs a sourced cut-off time, which the repo does not hold, so it is not on the page.
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