ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS Validity and Reproducibility of the Glittre ADL-Test in Obese and Post-Bariatric Surgery Patients Fabiane Monteiro 1 & Diego Augusto Nascimento Ponce 1 & Humberto Silva 1 & Alexandre Faria Carrilho 1 & Fabio Pitta 1 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Background Obese and post-bariatric surgery (BS) subjects often present limitations in physical functioning (PF). The Glittre ADL-test is a simple and useful way to evaluate this outcome. It includes functional activities such as rising from a chair, lifting, carrying weights, and bending over and was never studied in the obese population. This study aimed to determine the validity and reproducibility of the Glittre ADL-test to evaluate PF in obese, post-BS, and healthy con- trol subjects. Methods Twenty-one post-BS patients (3–4 years post- surgery) (16 women, 41 ± 11 years, BMI = 28 ± 4 kg m -2 ) (group PO); 21 obese individuals (16 women, 44 ± 9 years, BMI = 44 ± 6 kg.m -2 ) (group OB) and 21 control individuals matched to PO (16 women, 42 ± 12 years old, BMI = 27 ± 6 kg m -2 ) (group MC) were included. For the reproducibility analysis, the Glittre ADL-test was performed twice, with a 30-min interval. As criterion methods for the validation, subjects performed two walking tests and answered a health status questionnaire (SF-36). Results High intraclass correlation (OB: r = 0.91 and PO: r = 0.89; MC: r = 0.86; P < 0.0001 for all) and good Bland– Altman agreement between the two tests were found in all groups. However, learning effect ranged between 8.8 and 11.8 % and significant test–retest differences occurred. The test was valid for all groups (moderate-to-high significant cor- relations with the criterion methods). Conclusions Glittre ADL-test is valid and reproducible to evaluate PF of obese, post-BS, and healthy control subjects. However, due to the large learning effect, two tests are re- quired for accurate assessment. Keywords Obesity . Motor activity . Physical fitness . Physical analysis . Activities of daily living Introduction Obesity is closely related to impairments in physical function (PF) and in the performance of activities of daily living (ADL) [1]. This is mainly due to the impairments resulting from ex- cessive weight (e.g., cardiorespiratory limitations) or mechan- ical complications (e.g., osteoarthritis, joint pain, varicose veins, skin friction, and urinary incontinence) [2]. Despite the fact that most of these problems are commonly counteracted and reversed by bariatric surgery (BS), the sci- entific literature has not clearly elucidated yet if patients sub- mitted to successful BS return to normal performance of their ADL as performed by healthy matched subjects. Since an adequate PF is essential for weight loss and maintenance, a tool that effectively evaluates ADL performance is needed. The Glittre ADL-test is a simple, practical, easy to admin- ister, safe, and inexpensive test which assesses activities that simulate functional tasks. In addition to ambulation, this test includes functional activities such as rising from a chair, lifting, carrying weights, and bending over [3]. Unlike other PF tests, these tasks include activities using both lower and upper extremities which address the need for a more represen- tative objective assessment of function in people with obesity. This test was originally developed to evaluate functionality of patients with pulmonary problems which lead to significant physical limitations [4]. Since obese individuals are also sus- ceptible to important reduction in their PF, the Glittre ADL- test might be a useful and representative tool for this * Fabio Pitta fabiopitta@uol.com.br 1 State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil OBES SURG DOI 10.1007/s11695-016-2244-7