Using Augmented Reality with Older Adults in the Community to Select Design Features for an Age-Friendly Park: A Pilot Study

Sedentary behavior is prevalent in older adults. Older adults often underutilize public parks for exercising because the parks do not support their needs and preferences. Engaging older adults on the redesign of parks may help promote active lifestyles. The objectives of this pilot study were to evaluate (1) the effects of wearing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) glasses on balance; (2) the effects of different virtual walls separating the walking trail from the roadway on older adults’ gait, and (3) the preferences of the participants regarding wall design and other features. The participants were ten older adults (68 ± 5 years) who lived within two miles from the park. Balance and gait were assessed using a force plate and an instrumented mat. It was feasible to use AR with older adults in the park to evaluate features for redesign. Motion sickness was not an issue when using AR glasses, but balance was affected when wearing VR goggles. The area of postural sway increased approximately 25% when wearing AR glasses, and it increased by close to 70% when wearing VR goggles compared to no glasses. This difference is clinically relevant; however, we did not have enough power to identify the differences as statistically significant because of the small sample size and large variability. Different walls did not significantly affect the participants’ gait either because they did not alter the way they walked or because the holograms were insufficiently realistic to cause changes. The participants preferred a transparent wall rather than tall or short solid walls to separate the park from the roadway.

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The Symbiotic Mutualism between Co-Creation and Entrepreneurship

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116285 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6285

Author(s):

Sandra Misiak-Kwit ◽

Małgorzata Wiścicka-Fernando ◽

Kelaniyage Shihan Dilruk Fernando

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Strong Association ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Small Sample ◽

Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽

Added Value ◽

Primary Data ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Symbiotic Mutualism

In this manuscript, the authors aim to explore firstly the association between entrepreneurial mindset and co-creation experience, secondly the association between co-creation experience and entrepreneurial intentions, and thirdly the association between entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial intentions within the sustainability context. In this paper, the authors present the results of the pilot study. Primary data were collected from 500 university students from China, Georgia, Poland, Romania, and Sri Lanka by using a convenient sampling technique, and a literature review was the primary method of the concept development. The authors selected the above-mentioned countries to collect primary data by using a convenient sampling technique based on accessibility; they also visited all analysed countries in order to conduct the pilot survey personally. Descriptive statistics and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were applied as primary statistical methods. The findings reveal that there is a very strong association between co-creation experience and entrepreneurial intentions, a very weak negative association between entrepreneurial mindset and co-creation experience, and, surprisingly, a weak association between entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial intentions. The added value of the conducted pilot research involves filling in a gap regarding the relationship between experience and the subjective norm. In the presented pilot research, co-creation experience was compared with not only entrepreneurial mindset but with entrepreneurial intentions as well. An additional value of this exploratory research is compiling an international comparison. The main contribution of this pilot study is examining the symbiotic mutualism between co-creation and entrepreneurship. Among many platforms of associations, the following can be differentiated: creativity, innovativeness, openness, engagement, awareness, motivation, trust (level of social capital), and recognizing the significance of social and sustainable development objectives. Due to the small sample size, the results cannot be generalised. Results refer only to the respondents. However, the findings of the pilot study are the basis for further research studies on symbiotic mutualism between entrepreneurship and co-creation.

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Blinding in electric current stimulation in subacute neglect patients with current densities of 0.8 A/m2: a cross-over pilot study

BMC Research Notes ◽

10.1186/s13104-020-05421-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anna Gorsler ◽

Ulrike Grittner ◽

Nadine Külzow ◽

Torsten Rackoll

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Electric Fields ◽

Standard Care ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Related Factors ◽

Attentional Deficits ◽

Age Related ◽

Current Densities ◽

Improve Standard

Abstract Objective Neglect after stroke is a disabling disorder and its rehabilitation is a major challenge. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) seems to be a promising adjuvant technique to improve standard care neglect therapy. Since electric fields are influenced by age-related factors, higher current densities are probably needed for effective treatment in aged stroke patients. Validation of treatment efficacy requires sham-controlled experiments, but increased current densities might comprise blinding. Therefore, a pilot study was conducted to test sham adequacy when using current density of 0.8 A/m2. Whether especially neglect patients who mainly suffer from perceptual and attentional deficits are able to differentiate beyond chance active from sham tDCS was investigated in a randomized cross-over design (active/sham stimulation) in 12 early subacute patients with left-sided hemineglect. Stimulation (0.8 A/m2) was performed simultaneous to standard care neglect therapy. Results Odds ratio of correct guessing an atDCS condition compared to wrongly judge an atDCS condition as sham was 10.00 (95%CI 0.65–154.40, p = 0.099). However, given the small sample size and high OR, although likely somewhat overestimated, results require careful interpretation and blinding success in neglect studies with current densities of 0.8 A/m2 should be further confirmed.

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Perceptions and Understanding of Diabetes Mellitus Technology in Adults with Type 1 or Type 2 DM: A Pilot Survey from Pakistan

Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology ◽

10.1177/19322968211011199 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 193229682110111

Author(s):

Sarah Nadeem ◽

Uswah Siddiqi ◽

Russell Seth Martins ◽

Kaleemullah Badini

Keyword(s):

Diabetes Mellitus ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Diabetes Care ◽

Online Survey ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Small Sample ◽

Cost Of Care ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Specific Patient

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus technology (DMT) is increasingly used for routine management in developed countries, yet its uptake in developing countries is not as consistent. Multiple factors may influence this, including country specific patient perception regarding DMT. We conducted a pilot study in Pakistan to understand this important question which has not been studied yet. Methods: A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in Pakistan. An anonymous survey exploring perceptions of diabetes technology was circulated on social media platforms, collecting responses over 2 weeks. Target population included adults (≥18 years) living in Pakistan, with DM1 or 2. Results: A total of 40 responses were received. The majority (36/40) reported using conventional glucometers. Nine used continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Thirty-two of 40 patients believed DMT improved diabetes care, 22 felt it helped decreased risk of Diabetes-related complications. 15/40 stated that DMT results in increased cost of care. Sixteen reported their diabetes care teams had never discussed wearable DMT options whereas 11 disliked them because they did not want a device on their self. Conclusion: In our pilot study we have identified broad themes of opportunity and challenges to DMT use in Pakistan. Patients’ perceptions regarding DMT were generally positive but significant barriers to its acceptance included high cost, lack of discussion between doctor and patient about available technology and personal hesitation. Limitations of our study include sampling bias (online survey) and small sample size, but this data can help inform larger studies, to look at this important topic in greater detail.

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The Relationship Between Trunk Muscle Thickness and Static Postural Balance in Older Adults

Journal of Aging and Physical Activity ◽

10.1123/japa.2019-0127 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 269-275

Author(s):

Ece Acar ◽

Tamer Çankaya ◽

Serkan Öner

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Postural Balance ◽

Postural Sway ◽

Force Plate ◽

Muscle Thickness ◽

Trunk Muscle ◽

Rectus Abdominis ◽

Trunk Muscles ◽

The Relationship ◽

Stability Area

Trunk muscles are required for safety of movement in aging. The authors aimed to investigate the relationship between trunk muscle thickness and the static postural balance in older adults. A total of 31 females and 23 males with a mean age of 73.39 ± 6.09 completed the study. The thickness of the trunk muscles was determined with ultrasound imaging. Postural balance was assessed with force plate. There was a positive weak correlation between right and left upper rectus abdominis muscle thickness and anterior stability area (p < .05, r > .3). The negative and moderate correlation was determined between the left lower rectus abdominis and the perturbated stability sway value (p < .01, r > .5). The increase in trunk muscle thickness in older adults increases the postural stability area and decreases the postural sway especially in the mediolateral direction.

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Functional Gait Assessment: Concurrent, Discriminative, and Predictive Validity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Physical Therapy ◽

10.2522/ptj.20090069 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 90 (5) ◽

pp. 761-773 ◽

Cited By ~ 158

Author(s):

Diane M. Wrisley ◽

Neeraj A. Kumar

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Predictive Validity ◽

Fall Risk ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Cutoff Score ◽

Gait Assessment ◽

Functional Gait ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

BackgroundThe Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) is a reliable and valid measure of gait-related activities.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine the concurrent, discriminative, and predictive validity of the FGA in community-dwelling older adults.DesignThis was a prospective cohort study.MethodsThirty-five older adults aged 60 to 90 years completed the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), Timed “Up & Go” Test (TUG), and Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) during one session. Falls were tracked by having participants complete a monthly fall calendar for 6 months. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to determine concurrent validity among the ABC, BBS, TUG, DGI, and FGA. To determine the optimum scores to classify fall risk, sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp), and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR−) were calculated for the FGA in classifying fall risk based on the published criterion scores of the DGI and TUG and for the FGA, TUG, and DGI in identifying prospective falls. Receiver operator curves with area under the curve were used to determine the effectiveness of the FGA in classifying fall risk and of the DGI, TUG, and FGA in identifying prospective falls.ResultsThe FGA correlated with the ABC (r=.053, P<.001), BBS (r=.84, P<.001), and TUG (r=−.84, P<.001). An FGA score of ≤22/30 provides both discriminative and predictive validity. The FGA (scores ≤22/30) provided 100% Sn, 72% Sp, LR+ of 3.6, and LR− of 0 to predict prospective falls.LimitationsThe study was limited by the length of time of follow-up and the small sample size that did not allow for evaluation of criterion scores by decade.ConclusionsThe FGA with a cutoff score of 22/30 is effective in classifying fall risk in older adults and predicting unexplained falls in community-dwelling older adults.

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Small Sample Size for Test of Training Time by Augmented Reality: An Aeronautical Case

Procedia Computer Science ◽

10.1016/j.procs.2015.12.190 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 75 ◽

pp. 17-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fernando Suárez-Warden ◽

Myrta Rodriguez ◽

Nicolás Hendrichs ◽

Salvador García-Lumbreras ◽

Eduardo González Mendívil

Keyword(s):

Augmented Reality ◽

Sample Size ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Training Time

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Day-to-Day Variability of Postural Sway and Its Association With Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Pilot Study

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2018.00126 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Julia M. Leach ◽

Martina Mancini ◽

Jeffrey A. Kaye ◽

Tamara L. Hayes ◽

Fay B. Horak

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Postural Sway

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A Naturalistic Study of Driving Behavior in Older Adults and Preclinical Alzheimer Disease: A Pilot Study

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/0733464817690679 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 277-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ganesh M. Babulal ◽

Sarah H. Stout ◽

Tammie L. S. Benzinger ◽

Brian R. Ott ◽

David B. Carr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Sample Size ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Driving Behavior ◽

Driving Performance ◽

Small Sample ◽

Clinical Consequence ◽

Cognitively Normal ◽

Preclinical Ad ◽

One Year

A clinical consequence of symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is impaired driving performance. However, decline in driving performance may begin in the preclinical stage of AD. We used a naturalistic driving methodology to examine differences in driving behavior over one year in a small sample of cognitively normal older adults with ( n = 10) and without ( n = 10) preclinical AD. As expected with a small sample size, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, but older adults with preclinical AD drove less often, were less likely to drive at night, and had fewer aggressive behaviors such as hard braking, speeding, and sudden acceleration. The sample size required to power a larger study to determine differences was calculated.

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Age Affects the Attentional Demands of Stair Ambulation: Evidence From a Dual-Task Approach

Physical Therapy ◽

10.2522/ptj.20080187 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 89 (10) ◽

pp. 1080-1088 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Heidi A. Ojha ◽

Rebecca W. Kern ◽

Chien-Ho Janice Lin ◽

Carolee J. Winstein

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Dual Task ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Task Demands ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Attentional Demands ◽

Probe Task ◽

Stair Ambulation

Background: Approximately 75% of all injury-producing falls on steps for people of all ages occur in people 65 years of age and older. Diminished attentional capacity contributes to fall risk in older adults, particularly when task demands are high. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the attentional demands of ascending and descending a set of stairs (stair ambulation) in older adults and younger adults. Design: This was a nonblinded, prospective, single-site, observational cohort study. Methods: Ten older (>65 years of age) and 10 younger (21–33 years of age) adults without disabilities were recruited. A dual-task approach was used for 2 task conditions: the first task was standing and responding verbally to an unanticipated auditory tone as quickly as possible (probe task), and the second task was ascending or descending a set of stairs with the same probe task. A 2-factor (group × task) analysis of variance with repeated measures on task (standing and stair ambulation) was performed for voice response time (VRT). Significance for the analysis was set at P<.05. Results: The group × task interaction was significant for VRT. Post hoc analyses indicated that during stair ambulation, the VRT for older adults was significantly longer than that for younger adults. For the standing task, the VRTs (X̅±SD) were similar for younger (322±65 milliseconds) and older (306±22 milliseconds) participants. For stair ascent and descent, the average VRTs were more than 100 milliseconds longer for older participants (493±113 and 470±127 milliseconds, respectively) than for younger participants (365±56 and 356±67 milliseconds, respectively). Limitations: Because of the small sample size and generally fit older group, generalization of findings to older people at risk for falls is not recommended until further research is done. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that although both older and younger adults required similar attentional resources for the standing task, older adults required significantly more resources during stair ambulation. The findings suggested that the dual-task method used here provided a clinically useful measure for detecting important changes in attentional demands in older adults who are healthy.

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Postural and Head Control Given Different Environmental Contexts

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2021.597404 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Anat V. Lubetzky ◽

Jennifer L. Kelly ◽

Bryan D. Hujsak ◽

Jenny Liu ◽

Daphna Harel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postural Control ◽

Postural Sway ◽

Center Of Pressure ◽

Force Plate ◽

Small Sample ◽

Head Kinematics ◽

City Environment ◽

Head Mounted Displays ◽

Control Balance ◽

The City

Virtual reality allows for testing of multisensory integration for balance using portable Head Mounted Displays (HMDs). HMDs provide head kinematics data while showing a moving scene when participants are not. Are HMDs useful to investigate postural control? We used an HMD to investigate postural sway and head kinematics changes in response to auditory and visual perturbations and whether this response varies by context. We tested 25 healthy adults, and a small sample of people with diverse monaural hearing (n = 7), or unilateral vestibular dysfunction (n = 7). Participants stood naturally on a stable force-plate and looked at 2 environments via the Oculus Rift (abstract “stars;” busy “street”) with 3 visual and auditory levels (static, “low,” “high”). We quantified medio-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) postural sway path from the center-of-pressure data and ML, AP, pitch, yaw and roll head path from the headset. We found no difference between the different combinations of “low” and “high” visuals and sounds. We then combined all perturbations data into “dynamic” and compared it to the static level. The increase in path between “static” and “dynamic” was significantly larger in the city environment for: Postural sway ML, Head ML, AP, pitch and roll. The majority of the vestibular group moved more than controls, particularly around the head, when the scenes, especially the city, were dynamic. Several patients with monaural hearing performed similar to controls whereas others, particularly older participants, performed worse. In conclusion, responses to sensory perturbations are magnified around the head. Significant differences in performance between environments support the importance of context in sensory integration. Future studies should further investigate the sensitivity of head kinematics to diagnose vestibular disorders and the implications of aging with hearing loss to postural control. Balance assessment and rehabilitation should be conducted in different environmental contexts.

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