How to do the Timed Up and Go test
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test checks mobility and fall risk in older adults. It is a core part of the CDC STEADI falls program.
Step by step
Set up
Use a standard chair with arms and mark a line 3 meters (10 feet) away. [1]
Prepare the patient
The patient wears usual shoes and uses their walking aid if needed. [1]
Give instructions
Say: when I say go, stand up, walk to the line at your normal pace, turn, walk back and sit down. [1]
Time it
Start timing on "go" and stop when the patient sits back down. [1]
Watch the gait
Look at balance, stride, arm swing and turning. Stay close to prevent a fall. [1]
Interpret the time
12 seconds or more suggests a higher fall risk and needs further assessment. [1]
Common errors
- Letting the patient rush.
- Not staying close enough to catch a fall.
- Only recording the time and not the gait.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Fall risk at home, older adult
- Parkinson disease, home safety
- Intimate partner violence in pregnancy
- Neonatal jaundice
- Bleeding after prostatectomy
- Tension pneumothorax
31 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
Facts and steps follow CDC STEADI (falls in older adults); NCSBN 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan. Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.