PERFORMS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Psychometric evaluation of the reliability of functional outcome measures in people with obesity
IRAS ID
368877
Contact name
Thomas Yates
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Many people living with overweight or obesity, including those with type 2 diabetes, experience problems with physical function. This can include difficulty walking, climbing stairs or performing daily activities. Poor physical function reduces independence, affects quality of life and increases the risk of future health problems. Health care teams often use simple physical tests to measure these abilities, but most of these tests were developed for older adults in general, not specifically for people living with obesity or diabetes. As a result, we do not know how accurate or reliable these tests are for this group.
The PERFORMS study aims to find out how well commonly used physical function tests work in adults aged 60 years or above who have overweight or obesity, with or without type 2 diabetes, and who have low muscle strength. Understanding this is important to make sure that health professionals use the best possible tools to assess physical ability, track changes over time and plan treatment.
In total, 80 people will visit the study team five times over approximately 2 weeks. During these visits, participants will complete a range of simple movements such as walking tests, chair standing, stair climbing, handgrip strength tests and balance tasks. Researchers will also measure body composition, and assess heart and lung fitness through a supervised exercise test on a treadmill. By repeating the tests, the team can check how consistent the results are for each individual. They will also compare the simpler tests with gold standard measures to see how well they reflect true physical fitness and strength.
The goal of this study is to identify which tests are most trustworthy and suitable for people with overweight or obesity. This will support better assessment, monitoring and care for this growing population.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/NW/0146
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion