Wan Neng, Qu Wenyu, Whittington Jackie, Witbrodt Bradley C, Henderson Mary Pearl, Goulding Evan H, Schenk A Katrin, Bonasera Stephen J, Lin Ge
The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Health Services Research & Administration, College of Public Health, 984350 University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4350.
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts of Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240.
Environ Plann B Plann Des. 2013 Apr;40(2):350-361. doi: 10.1068/b38200. Epub 2013 Apr 1.
Life-space is a promising method for estimating older adults' functional status. However, traditional life-space measures are costly and time consuming because they often rely on active subject participation. This study assesses the feasibility of using the global positioning system (GPS) function of smart phones to generate life-space indicators. We first evaluated the location accuracy of smart phone collected GPS points versus those acquired by a commercial GPS unit. We then assessed the specificity of the smart phone processed life-space information against the traditional diary method. Our results suggested comparable location accuracy between the smart phone and the standard GPS unit in most outdoor situations. In addition, the smart phone method revealed more comprehensive life-space information than the diary method, which leads to higher and more consistent life-space scores. We conclude that the smart phone method is more reliable than traditional methods for measuring life-space. Further improvements will be required to develop a robust application of this method that is suitable for health-related practices.
生活空间是一种评估老年人功能状态的有前景的方法。然而，传统的生活空间测量方法成本高昂且耗时，因为它们通常依赖于受试者的积极参与。本研究评估了使用智能手机的全球定位系统（GPS）功能生成生活空间指标的可行性。我们首先评估了智能手机收集的GPS点与商业GPS设备获取的GPS点的定位准确性。然后，我们将智能手机处理的生活空间信息与传统日记法进行了特异性评估。我们的结果表明，在大多数户外情况下，智能手机与标准GPS设备的定位准确性相当。此外，智能手机方法比日记法揭示了更全面的生活空间信息，这导致更高且更一致的生活空间得分。我们得出结论，在测量生活空间方面，智能手机方法比传统方法更可靠。需要进一步改进以开发适用于健康相关实践的强大应用程序。
