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. 2018 Jan 12:5:2055668317750811.
doi: 10.1177/2055668317750811. eCollection 2018 Jan-Dec.

Longitudinal assessment of falls in patients with Parkinson's disease using inertial sensors and the Timed Up and Go test

Barry R Greene  1 , Brian Caulfield  2 , Dronacharya Lamichhane  3 , William Bond  4   5 , Jessica Svendsen  4 , Connie Zurski  4 , Dyveke Pratt  3   6
Affiliations

Longitudinal assessment of falls in patients with Parkinson's disease using inertial sensors and the Timed Up and Go test

Barry R Greene et al. J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. .

Abstract

Objective: To examine the predictive validity of a TUG test for falls risk, quantified using body-worn sensors (QTUG) in people with Parkinson's Disease (PD). We also sought to examine the inter-session reliability of QTUG sensor measures and their association with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score.

Approach: A six-month longitudinal study of 15 patients with Parkinson's disease. Participants were asked to complete a weekly diary recording any falls activity for six months following baseline assessment. Participants were assessed monthly, using a Timed Up and Go test, quantified using body-worn sensors, placed on each leg below the knee.

Main results: The results suggest that the QTUG falls risk estimate recorded at baseline is 73.33% (44.90, 92.21) accurate in predicting falls within 90 days, while the Timed Up and Go time at baseline was 46.67% (21.27, 73.41) accurate. The Timed Up and Go time and QTUG falls risk estimate were strongly correlated with UPDRS motor score. Fifty-two of 59 inertial sensor parameters exhibited excellent inter-session reliability, five exhibited moderate reliability, while two parameters exhibited poor reliability.

Significance: The results suggest that QTUG is a reliable tool for the assessment of gait and mobility in Parkinson's disease and, furthermore, that it may have utility in predicting falls in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: Falls; Parkinson’s disease; reliability; sensors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Author BRG is a director of Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd, a company with a license to commercialise this technology.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(a) Variation of falls risk estimate (FRE) and frailty estimate (FE) at baseline with TUG time at baseline. TUG time at baseline is significantly correlated with FRE and FE (b) variation of FRE and FE at baseline with UPDRS motor score at baseline. FRE and FE at baseline are significantly correlated with UPDRS motor score at baseline. UPDRS: Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale; TUG: TUG: Timed Up and Go.
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