The Comparison of The Online and Face-to-Face Assessments of Physical Functions in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether online assessments can be used as an alternative way to face-to-face assessments. Method: The study included 20 volunteer healthy adults (F/M: 14/6; Age: 59.1 ± 8.02 years-old) without any neurological problems and scored 24 or higher in the Mini-Mental State Examination Test. All assessments (The Timed Up and Go Test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Five Times Sit to Stand Test (FTSTS), Arm Curl Test (ACT) and Toe Touch Tests (TTT)) were performed both online and face-to-face. Google Meet or Zoom Meetings platforms were used for online assessments. Differences between online and face-to-face groups were determined by the Wilcoxon test. Results: In the study, there was no statistically significant differences between the online and face-to-face assessments of the TUG (p=0.057), BBS (p= 0.546) and TTT (p=0.438). However, it was significant differences the online FTSTS (p=0.028) and ACT (p= 0.002) tests with compared to face-to-face evaluation. The current study has shown that can be performed to adults of the assessments of TUG, BBS and TTT tests on the supervised online platform.