Reproducibility and concordance of functional autonomy tests in older adult women: a comparative study of face-to-face and virtual assessments

INTRODUCTION: The literature does not explore functional assessments carried out remotely and in older women in virtual environments. OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed the reproducibility and agreement in applying functional autonomy tests face to face (FF) and virtually (V). METHODS: A single evaluator carried out two evaluations. The following tests were performed: walking 10 m, rising from the sitting position (RSP), rising from the ventral decubitus position (RVDP), and sitting and rising from a chair and walking around the house (SRCW). RESULTS: No significant changes were identified between V and FF (p > 0.05 for all). No significant changes were identified between tests considering FF and V conditions (p > 0.05 for all). The highest value for the intraclass correlation coefficient was <0.0001 for the SRCW (CL, r = 0.98 CI95%: 0.969-0.990 and ICC, r = 0.99 CI95%: 0.984-0.995), and the lowest was <0.0001 for the RSP (CL, r = 0.91 CI95%: 0.853-0.954 and ICC, r = 0.95 CI95%: 0.921-0.976). Regarding agreement between tests, a variation was found between the lowest value of 0.07 ± 0.74 BIAS for the RVDP and the highest value of 0.32 ± 1.89 BIAS for the SRCW. CONCLUSION: The tests used in the present study showed good reproducibility and agreement in older people when carried out face to face and virtually.