Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)

What this measure records

A composite of three components, scored out of 12 in total, with a higher score better.

epnote records it as a points score in its measures library and can carry it through a report like any other measure.

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.

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 and five times sit to stand, which measure the chair rise component on their own.
• Gait speed over a short course, which is the walking component on its own.

Questions

How is the SPPB scored?

Each of the three components is scored out of 4 and the three are added for a total out of 12. epnote does not publish the per-component scoring rules, because it does not hold them transcribed from a primary source and checked against it.

What SPPB score indicates frailty?

There are published cut-offs, and epnote does not hold one that has been checked against its source, so it does not print one. Use the cut-off from the instrument's own documentation.

Does epnote have an SPPB calculator?

Not yet. A calculator would have to score each component, and the scoring rules are not in epnote's research. You can record the total as a measure and carry it through a report today.

Does epnote have verified change thresholds for the SPPB?

No. The evidence registry holds no SPPB rows at all, so the change thresholds section on this page is empty.

Related

• 30-Second Chair Stand Test (30s CST)Outcome measures
• Five Times Sit to Stand Test (5xSTS)Outcome measures
• DVA Exercise Physiology: Treatment Cycle, Reporting and ItemsFunder guides
• MCID and MDC CalculatorFree tools

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 indata/measures.ts and data/tests-listed.ts
• epnote listed tests and batteries research, which sources each measure's unit and directiondocs/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 2026docs/research/2026-10-25-threshold-verification.md
• epnote NDIS EP report template research, for the plain-language rules on reporting a measurementdocs/research/ndis/ndis-ep-report-templates-2026-10-20.md

What this page does not cover yet

• Normative values by age and sex for Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) are not in the repo's research, so that section is empty.
• A transcribed standardised protocol for Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is not in the repo's research, so that section is empty.
• The brief asks for an SPPB score calculator, per-component protocols and sourced interpretation bands. The repo holds none of the three, so the calculator is not built and the sections are empty. The evidence registry also holds no SPPB rows, which the verification pack lists as its largest content gap.