UDDGait™: Uppsala-Dalarna Dementia and Gait Project
UDDGait™ is a multidisciplinary research project with the overreaching goal of providing an aid for early identification of cognitive impairment and risk of dementia development, thereby providing a basis for adequate symptom relieving and health promoting interventions.
Details
- Funder: Swedish Research Council,Stiftelsen Promobilia, Konung Gustaf V:s och Drottning Victorias frimurarestiftelse, Demensfonden, UU innovation, Geriatriska fonden, Alzheimerfonden, Regionala forskningsrådet i Uppsala-Örebroregionen, Region Uppsala, Svenska läkaresällskapet och Stiftelsen Ragnhild och Einar Lundströms minne
The overall aim is to investigate if TUGdt is useful as an aid for prediction of dementia disease. To ensure the results, the aim is also to evaluate the test’s measurement properties and to generate normative reference values of healthy control persons.
Approach
We use the TUG, which is an uncomplicated and quickly administrated test of a one movement sequence starting from a sitting position in an armchair, standing up and walking 3 meters, turning around, walking back to the chair and sitting down again. For TUGdt, TUG is combined with a verbal task of e.g. naming different animals (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the set-up with registration by two video cameras.
This type of dual-task requires divided attention, which affects persons with dementia more than healthy persons in the same age-group. For example, gait disturbances caused by dual-tasking have been shown early in the course of dementia development. Thus, TUGdt can constitute a useful clinical tool for diagnosis and treatment planning for individuals with cognitive difficulties.
Execution
A pilot study was initially carried out to develop the methodology and the study protocol. In the next step the TUGdt was utilized for base line investigations of persons attending a specialist clinic at the Akademiska hospital in Uppsala or the hospital Falu Lasarett in Falun. Those patients who at baseline went through a lumbar puncture for investigation of biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in spinal fluid were additionally included in a study on the correlation between these markers and TUGdt parameters. Longitudinal follow-ups of the baseline investigations have been performed and are ongoing in several steps. We have additionally included and tested healthy controls by TUGdt to generate reference values and evaluate the test-retest reliability. Data collection for evaluation of test-retest reliability for patients undergoing memory assessments is ongoing. We have additionally developed a side project focused on analysis of gait parameters extracted from video recordings of TUG and TUGdt.
For this purpose, we have collected data at the Biomechanics and Motor Control laboratory at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) in Stockholm to evaluate the measurement properties for the use of video recordings in the evaluation of TUGdt step gait parameters. We have developed and used specific methodology for semi-automated extraction of gait parameters from video.
Project members
Publications
Part of Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, p. 823-832, 2023
- DOI for Dual-Task Interference of Gait Parameters During Different Conditions of the Timed Up-and-Go Test Performed by Community-Dwelling Older Adults
- Download full text (pdf) of Dual-Task Interference of Gait Parameters During Different Conditions of the Timed Up-and-Go Test Performed by Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Part of BMC Geriatrics, 2023
- DOI for Prediction of conversion to dementia disorders based on timed up and go dual-task test verbal and motor outcomes: a five-year prospective memory-clinic-based study
- Download full text (pdf) of Prediction of conversion to dementia disorders based on timed up and go dual-task test verbal and motor outcomes: a five-year prospective memory-clinic-based study
Part of Gait & Posture, p. 489-495, 2021
- DOI for Extraction of gait parameters from marker-free video recordings of Timed Up-and-Go tests: Validity, inter- and intra-rater reliability
- Download full text (pdf) of Extraction of gait parameters from marker-free video recordings of Timed Up-and-Go tests: Validity, inter- and intra-rater reliability
Part of Physical Therapy, 2021
- DOI for Timed “Up & Go” Dual-Task Tests: Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Values and Test-Retest Reliability in Cognitively Healthy Controls
- Download full text (pdf) of Timed “Up & Go” Dual-Task Tests: Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Values and Test-Retest Reliability in Cognitively Healthy Controls
Part of BMC Geriatrics, 2020
- DOI for Dual-task tests discriminate between dementia, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment, and healthy controls - a cross-sectional cohort study.
- Download full text (pdf) of Dual-task tests discriminate between dementia, mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment, and healthy controls - a cross-sectional cohort study.
Dual-task tests predict conversion to dementia: A prospective memory-clinic-based cohort study
Part of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
- DOI for Dual-task tests predict conversion to dementia: A prospective memory-clinic-based cohort study
- Download full text (pdf) of Dual-task tests predict conversion to dementia: A prospective memory-clinic-based cohort study
Part of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
- DOI for Timed Up-and-Go Dual-Task Testing in the Assessment of Cognitive Function: A Mixed Methods Observational Study for Development of the UDDGait Protocol
- Download full text (pdf) of Timed Up-and-Go Dual-Task Testing in the Assessment of Cognitive Function: A Mixed Methods Observational Study for Development of the UDDGait Protocol
Part of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2019