Better than counting seconds: Identifying fallers among healthy elderly using fusion of accelerometer features and dual-task Timed Up and Go

Author(s)

Ponti, Moacir ; Bet, Patricia ; Oliveira, Caroline L. ; Castro, Paula C.

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 12, n. 4 APR 27 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 10

Abstract

Devices and sensors for identification of fallers can be used to implement actions to prevent falls and to allow the elderly to live an independent life while reducing the long-term care costs. In this study we aimed to investigate the accuracy of Timed Up and Go test, for fallers' identification, using fusion of features extracted from accelerometer data. Single and dual tasks TUG (manual and cognitive) were performed by a final sample (94% power) of 36 community dwelling healthy older persons (18 fallers paired with 18 non-fallers) while they wear a single triaxial accelerometer at waist with sampling rate of 200Hz. The segmentation of the TUG different trials and its comparative analysis allows to better discriminate fallers from non-fallers, while conventional functional tests fail to do so. In addition, we show that the fusion of features improve the discrimination power, achieving AUC of 0.84 (Sensitivity = Specificity = 0.83, 95% CI 0.62-0.91), and demonstrating the clinical relevance of the study. We concluded that features extracted from segmented TUG trials acquired with dual tasks has potential to improve performance when identifying fallers via accelerometer sensors, which can improve TUG accuracy for clinical and epidemiological applications. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/07375-0 - CeMEAI - Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry
• Grantee: Francisco Louzada Neto
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 15/09715-8 - Accelerometer data analysis for identification of seniors at risk of falling
• Grantee: Patrícia Bet
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 15/13504-2 - Anomaly detection using divergence measures and feature decomposition in video
• Grantee: Moacir Antonelli Ponti
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• FAPESP's process: 16/10982-3 - ASSISTIVE MEDIA FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING: APPS FOR OLDER PEOPLE
• Grantee: Paula Costa Castro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• FAPESP's process: 14/21858-6 - Fall risk screening among the elderly with the use of a low cost system
• Grantee: Caroline Lindinalva de Oliveira Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation