scholarly journals Continuous in-home walking speed monitoring in older people with a low-cost ambient sensor: Results of a feasibility study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Phil Joddrell ◽  
Stephen Potter ◽  
Luc P. de Witte ◽  
Mark S. Hawley
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Speed Measurement ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Regular Measurement ◽  
Single Figure ◽  
High Degree

BACKGROUND: Walking speed predicts important clinical outcomes in older adults and is one of the most significant indicators of frailty. OBJECTIVE: To test whether it is feasible to measure walking speed frequently and unobtrusively in the home. METHODS: A longitudinal feasibility study was conducted comprising the installation and monitoring of continuous measurement walking speed sensors in twenty frail older adults’ homes for a period of twelve weeks (eighteen participants completed the study). Manual walking speed, frailty level and health status were measured at four-weekly intervals. Qualitative interviews were conducted at the end of the study to assess participants’ attitudes to the sensors and to the concept of continuous in-home walking speed measurement. RESULTS: There was a high degree of variance to the number of walking speed measurements recorded by each participant’s sensor (median 1942.39, range 2-3617). Participants indicated acceptability of both the sensor within the home and the concept of in-home walking speed measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Where regular measurement was achieved, the results indicate that walking speed might be better viewed as a distribution rather than a single figure, taking into account the natural variation to walking speed in daily life. This study demonstrates the feasibility of continuous ambient in-home walking speed monitoring of older adults with a low-cost, easily deployed device.

scholarly journals Differentiating fallers from nonfallers using nonlinear variability analyses of data from a low-cost portable footswitch device: a feasibility study

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Srikumar Krishnamoorthy ◽  
Heqi Xu ◽  
Zhengyi Zhang ◽  
Changxue Xu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Fall Risk ◽  
Detrended Fluctuation Analysis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reaction Force ◽  
Fluctuation Analysis ◽  
Temporal Variables ◽  
History Of ◽  
Detrended Fluctuation

Purpose: Falls are one of the main causes of injuries in older adults. This study evaluated a low-cost footswitch device that was designed to measure gait variability and investigates whether there are any relationships between variability metrics and clinical balance tests for individuals with a history of previous falls. Methods: Sixteen older adults completed a history of falls questionnaire, three functional tests related to fall risk, and walked on a treadmill with the footswitch device. We extracted the stride times from the device and applied two nonlinear variability analyses: coefficient of variation and detrended fluctuation analysis. Results: The temporal variables and variability metrics from the footswitch device correlated with gold-standard measurements based on ground reaction force data. One variability metric (detrended fluctuation analysis) showed a significant relationship with the presence of past falls with a sensitivity of 43%. Conclusion: This feasibility study demonstrates the basis for using low-cost footswitch devices to predict fall risk.

scholarly journals Monitoreo de la Actividad Física a Partir de un Modelo Basado en Redes Neuronales, con Dispositivo "Wearable"

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 953
Author(s):  
Humberto Rodríguez ◽  
Gabriel Grimaldo ◽  
Andrés Manzano
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Measurement Unit ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Speed Measurement ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Input Variables ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Motion Characteristics

The smart devices used for health and physical activities monitoring are elements with high presence in the market of wearables.     This work presents an estimaton method for walking speed based on a multilayer artificial neural netwok, which has been trained to obtain the ratio between this speed and the frequency of the arms motion, characteristics of each person.    In spite of using only 3 input variables (hight weight and gender), errors than less than 10% were obtained for the mentioned ratio. In addition,  the estimation algorith has been incorporated into a low cost, wrist weareable device, ehich uses a inertial measurement unit (IMU) to measure the angular velocity of one arm.  These IMUs are not common for these type of devices, but can be used to obtain more accurate speed measures than those obtained by meas of GPS units.  Thus,  the system can be used to record the physical activity with higher accuracy.Keywords: Artificial neural network, walking speed measurement, health monitoring, IMU, GPS.

scholarly journals VALIDATION OF A WALKING SPEED MEASUREMENT DEVICE: GAITBOX

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S9-S9
Author(s):  
Leighanne Jarvis ◽  
Matthew J Peterson ◽  
Miriam C Morey ◽  
Kevin Caves
Keyword(s):  
Older Adult ◽  
Gait Speed ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Walk Test ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Speed Measurement ◽  
Timing System ◽  
Research Grade ◽  
Mean Differences

Abstract The NIH 4m Walk Test is a clinically validated tool to measure adult walking speed. Human reaction limitations can contribute to measurement error when manually timing gait speed. This is important considering a 0.10m/s decrease in walking speed is associated with a 12% decrease in life expectancy for older adults. The goal of this study was to validate a low cost, custom built device, Gait Box (GB), compared to human timer (HT) and a research grade Sprint Timing System (STS) with an older adult (mean 72.4 + 7.4 years of age) population (N = 35). Validity was assessed via accuracy (correlations), precision (mean differences), and bias (Bland-Altman plots). Results showed strong correlations between the GB and HT (0.99) and the GB and STS (0.98), with negligible mean differences. This demonstrates the GB can be used to accurately and precisely measure gait speed in clinical and research settings.

scholarly journals Differentiating fallers from nonfallers using nonlinear variability analyses of data from a low-cost portable footswitch device: a feasibility study

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonobadi ◽  
Prokopios Antonellis ◽  
Philippe Malcolm
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Fall Risk ◽  
Detrended Fluctuation Analysis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reaction Force ◽  
Fluctuation Analysis ◽  
Temporal Variables ◽  
History Of ◽  
Detrended Fluctuation

Purpose: Falls are one of the main causes of injuries in older adults. This study evaluated a low-cost footswitch device that was designed to measure gait variability and investigates whether there are any relationships between variability metrics and clinical balance tests for individuals with a history of previous falls. Methods: Sixteen older adults completed a history of falls questionnaire, three functional tests related to fall risk, and walked on a treadmill with the footswitch device. We extracted the stride times from the device and applied two nonlinear variability analyses: coefficient of variation and detrended fluctuation analysis. Results: The temporal variables and variability metrics from the footswitch device correlated with gold-standard measurements based on ground reaction force data. One variability metric (detrended fluctuation analysis) showed a significant relationship with the presence of past falls with a sensitivity of 43%. Conclusion: This feasibility study demonstrates the basis for using low-cost footswitch devices to predict fall risk.

scholarly journals Older workers imagining retirement: the collapse of agency, or freedom at last?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Anne Skevik Grødem ◽  
Ragni Hege Kitterød
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Work Patterns ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Retirement Decisions ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract Images of what retirement is and ought to be are changing. Older workers are being encouraged to work for longer, at the same time, older adults increasingly voice expectations of a ‘third age’ of active engagement and new life prospects. In this article, we draw on the literature on older workers’ work patterns and retirement transitions (noting push/pull/stay/stuck/jump factors), and on scholarship on the changing social meaning of old age, most importantly the notions of a ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ age. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 28 employees in the private sector in Norway, aged between 55 and 66 years. Based on the interviews, we propose three ideal-typical approaches to the work–retirement transition: ‘the logic of deadline’, ‘the logic of negotiation’ and ‘the logic of averting retirement’. The ideal-types are defined by the degree to which informants assume agency in the workplace, their orientation towards work versus retirement and the degree to which they expect to exercise agency in retirement. We emphasise how retirement decisions are informed by notions of the meaning of ageing, while also embedded in relationships with employers and partners.

scholarly journals Service providers’ use of harm reduction approaches in working with older adults experiencing abuse: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Goodridge ◽  
Kerstin Stieber Roger ◽  
Christine A. Walsh ◽  
Elliot PausJenssen ◽  
Marina Cewick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
Intervention Process ◽  
Process Enactment ◽  
Humanistic Approach

Abstract Background Although abuse experienced by older adults is common and expected to increase, disclosure, reporting and interventions to prevent or mitigate abuse remain sub-optimal. Incorporating principles of harm reduction into service provision has been advocated as a strategy that may improve outcomes for this population. This paper explores whether and how these principles of harm reduction were employed by professionals who provide services to older adults experiencing abuse. Methods Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with 23 professionals providing services to older adults experiencing abuse across three Western provinces of Canada was conducted. Key principles of harm reduction (humanism, incrementalism, individualism, pragmatism, autonomy, and accountability without termination) were used as a framework for organizing the themes. Results Our analysis illustrated a clear congruence between each of the six harm reduction principles and the approaches reflected in the narratives of professionals who provided services to this population, although these were not explicitly articulated as harm reduction by participants. Each of the harm reduction principles was evident in service providers’ description of their professional practice with abused older adults, although some principles were emphasized differentially at different phases of the disclosure and intervention process. Enactment of a humanistic approach formed the basis of the therapeutic client-provider relationships with abused older adults, with incremental, individual, and pragmatic principles also apparent in the discourse of participants. While respect for the older adult’s autonomy figured prominently in the data, concerns about the welfare of the older adults with questionable capacity were expressed when they did not engage with services or chose to return to a high-risk environment. Accountability without termination of the client-provider relationship was reflected in continuation of support regardless of the decisions made by the older adult experiencing abuse. Conclusions Harm reduction approaches are evident in service providers’ accounts of working with older adults experiencing abuse. While further refinement of the operational definitions of harm reduction principles specific to their application with older adults is still required, this harm reduction framework aligns well with both the ethical imperatives and the practical realities of supporting older adults experiencing abuse.

scholarly journals Highly Compact Through-Wire Microstrip to Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6885
Author(s):  
Marcos D. Fernandez ◽  
José A. Ballesteros ◽  
Angel Belenguer
Keyword(s):  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coaxial Line ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Central Layer ◽  
Printed Circuit ◽  
Integrated Technology ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
The Many ◽  
High Degree

Empty substrate integrated coaxial line (ESICL) technology preserves the many advantages of the substrate integrated technology waveguides, such as low cost, low profile, or integration in a printed circuit board (PCB); in addition, ESICL is non-dispersive and has low radiation. To date, only two transitions have been proposed in the literature that connect the ESICL to classical planar lines such as grounded coplanar and microstrip. In both transitions, the feeding planar lines and the ESICL are built in the same substrate layer and they are based on transformed structures in the planar line, which must be in the central layer of the ESICL. These transitions also combine a lot of metallized and non-metallized parts, which increases the complexity of the manufacturing process. In this work, a new through-wire microstrip-to-ESICL transition is proposed. The feeding lines and the ESICL are implemented in different layers, so that the height of the ESICL can be independently chosen. In addition, it is a highly compact transition that does not require a transformer and can be freely rotated in its plane. This simplicity provides a high degree of versatility in the design phase, where there are only four variables that control the performance of the transition.

scholarly journals Understanding the Spatial-Related Abstraction of Public Health Impact Goals and Measures: Illustrated by the Example of the Austrian Action Plan on Women’s Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 773
Author(s):  
Tatjana Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Policy Paper ◽  
High Degree

The influence of spatial aspects on people’s health is internationally proven by a wealth of empirical findings. Nevertheless, questions concerning public health still tend to be negotiated among social and health scientists. This was different in the elaboration of the Austrian Action Plan on Women’s Health (AAPWH). On the example of the target group of older women, it is shown whether and to what extent the inclusion of the spatial planning perspective in the discussion of impact goals and measures is reflected in the respective inter-ministerial policy paper. The retrospective analysis on the basis of a document analysis of the AAPWH and qualitative interviews with public health experts who were also invited to join, or rather were part of, the expert group, brings to light the following key reasons for the high degree of spatial-related abstraction of the content of this strategic health policy paper: the requirement for general formulations, the lack of public and political awareness for the different living situations in different spatial archetypes, and the lack of external perception of spatial planning as a key discipline with regard to the creation of equivalent living conditions. Nonetheless, this research has promoted the external perception of spatial planning as a relevant discipline in public health issues in Austria. Furthermore, first thematic starting points for an in-depth interdisciplinary dialogue were identified.

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