The 1-minute sit-to-stand test: a simple tool for remote functional assessment in the era of telemedicine

Current challenges facing the healthcare system, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and military conflicts, necessitate the expansion of remote healthcare delivery capabilities. Telemedicine creates new opportunities for monitoring patients’ conditions; however, it requires the implementation of simple, valid, and accessible tools for assessing functional status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to justify the feasibility of using the 1-minute sit-to stand test for remote assessment of functional ability, as well as to analyze its clinical utility and potential for use in outpatient telerehabilitation. The study was conducted as an analytical review of scientific sources, systematizing data selected from the PubMed and Web of Science databases over the past 10 years. Results indicate that assessing cardiorespiratory interaction during physical exertion and in the recovery period is more informative than analyzing resting parameters; at the same time, cardiopulmonary exercise testing remains the gold standard, but its application is limited by complexity, the need for specialized equipment and high resource costs. The 6-minute walk test partially overcomes these limitations, but is not always suitable for remote use. Against this backdrop, the 1MSTST stands out for its practical utility: it allows for the quantitative determination of exercise tolerance, the assessment of cardiorespiratory response during test and in recovery phase, and identification of signs of reduced physical performance in patients. Its ease of use and lack of need for specialized equipment make it suitable for use outside the clinic. Additional benefits are provided by the use of mobile digital devices (smartphones, pulse oximeters, ECG patches, etc.), which increase the accuracy of data recording, enable automated data collection and transmission to the physician, and improve real time communication between the patient and the healthcare professional. Thus, 1MSTST is a useful tool for remote assessment of functional capacity, combining accessibility with sufficient clinical information and integrating well into modern models of telemedicine and home telerehabilitation.

field test; physical activity; exercise tolerance; telerehabilitation; telemetry

https://doi.org/10.11603/bmbr.2706-6290.2026.2.14143
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