OBJECTIVETo investigate the value of five-repetition sit-to-stand test (5STS) in clinical evaluation of elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODSFifty-one patients with COPD and 20 healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. All the participants underwent 5STS, pulmonary function examination, and 6 min walking test (6MWT) and were evaluated for severity of dyspnea (by mMRC) and BODE index during the tests.

RESULTSAll the participants completed 5STS test with a good reproducibility of the time used for 3 sessions of the test (P<0.001). The mean time used by COPD patients for 5STS was significantly longer than that by healthy individuals (12.93±3.11s vs 0.72±0.71 s, P=0.002). The results of 5STS showed a significant negative correlation with those of 6MWT in the case group and control group with correlation coefficients of -0.611 and -0.682, respectively. The results of 5STS were negatively correlated with FEV1%Pre and body mass index (P<0.05) but positively with mMRC and BODE index in COPD patients (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION5STS is a simple and reproducible test to evaluate the patients' exercise capacity and the severity of COPD, and is well correlated with the current methods for clinical evaluation of COPD.