Kongsawasdi Siriphan, Wiboonsuntharangkoon Chakrit, Tajarernmuang Pattaraporn, Wantanajittikul Kittichai
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Research Administration, Academic Services and International Relations Section, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
J Clin Med Res. 2024 Apr;16(4):174-181. doi: 10.14740/jocmr5125. Epub 2024 Apr 30.
Falls are a major public health problem among older adults since they are a primary cause of injuries, functional decline and mortality. Identifying individuals susceptible to falls enables early intervention and prevention strategies. Currently, wearable sensors have emerged as a promising tool for assessing balance and mobility due to their affordability, compact size, and established efficacy. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based postural sway metrics during quiet stance with four different bases of support and compare them among elderly individuals who are at risk of falling and those who are not.
A triaxial IMU prototype was developed for evaluating postural sway during quiet stance, with various bases of support. Totally, 103 elderly participants with mean age of 68.5 ± 5.7 years were included. Sway metrics, including the root mean square (RMS) of magnitude, summation of range of signal (Range), summation of sway area (SA) and summation of distance (SD) were employed to detect sway perturbations.
All of the sway metrics revealed a significantly increasing magnitude of signal trajectory with a decreasing base of support. When comparing IMU sway metrics between groups of individuals at potential risk and non-risk of falls, statistically significant differences were observed in some variables, including RMS, Range, and SA during semi-tandem stance, and Range and SA during one-leg standing.
The findings support earlier studies that demonstrated the objective nature of the IMU in assessing balance and predicting future risk of falls. Limited significant findings in this study may be due to the lower sampling rate of the IMU prototype (50 Hz) compared to commonly reported frequencies (100 Hz), as well as the inclusion of elderly ambulatory participants who were capable of being independent in their daily activities. The IMU is capable of providing comprehensive data, and detecting subtle changes, early signs of balance impairment and fall tendencies.
跌倒在老年人中是一个重大的公共卫生问题，因为它是受伤、功能衰退和死亡的主要原因。识别易跌倒个体有助于采取早期干预和预防策略。目前，可穿戴传感器因其价格实惠、体积小巧且已证实的有效性，已成为评估平衡和活动能力的一种有前景的工具。因此，本研究的目的是在安静站立时，使用四种不同的支撑基础来评估基于惯性测量单元（IMU）的姿势摆动指标，并在有跌倒风险的老年人和无跌倒风险的老年人之间进行比较。
开发了一种用于评估安静站立时姿势摆动的三轴IMU原型，采用了各种支撑基础。总共纳入了103名平均年龄为68.5±5.7岁的老年参与者。使用摆动指标，包括幅度的均方根（RMS）、信号范围总和（Range）、摆动面积总和（SA）和距离总和（SD）来检测摆动扰动。
所有摆动指标均显示，随着支撑基础的减小，信号轨迹的幅度显著增加。在比较有潜在跌倒风险和无跌倒风险个体组之间的IMU摆动指标时，在一些变量中观察到了统计学上的显著差异，包括半串联站立时的RMS、Range和SA，以及单腿站立时的Range和SA。
这些发现支持了早期的研究，这些研究表明IMU在评估平衡和预测未来跌倒风险方面具有客观性质。本研究中有限的显著发现可能是由于IMU原型的采样率（50Hz）低于通常报道的频率（100Hz），以及纳入了能够独立进行日常活动的老年步行参与者。IMU能够提供全面的数据，并检测到细微变化、平衡受损的早期迹象和跌倒倾向。
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