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Review
. 2020 May 16;20(10):2826.
doi: 10.3390/s20102826.

IoT Wearable Sensors and Devices in Elderly Care: A Literature Review

Thanos G Stavropoulos  1 , Asterios Papastergiou  1 , Lampros Mpaltadoros  1 , Spiros Nikolopoulos  1 , Ioannis Kompatsiaris  1
Affiliations
Review

IoT Wearable Sensors and Devices in Elderly Care: A Literature Review

Thanos G Stavropoulos et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

The increasing ageing global population is causing an upsurge in ailments related to old age, primarily dementia and Alzheimer's disease, frailty, Parkinson's, and cardiovascular disease, but also a general need for general eldercare as well as active and healthy ageing. In turn, there is a need for constant monitoring and assistance, intervention, and support, causing a considerable financial and human burden on individuals and their caregivers. Interconnected sensing technology, such as IoT wearables and devices, present a promising solution for objective, reliable, and remote monitoring, assessment, and support through ambient assisted living. This paper presents a review of such solutions including both earlier review studies and individual case studies, rapidly evolving in the last decade. In doing so, it examines and categorizes them according to common aspects of interest such as health focus, from specific ailments to general eldercare; IoT technologies, from wearables to smart home sensors; aims, from assessment to fall detection and indoor positioning to intervention; and experimental evaluation participants duration and outcome measures, from acceptability to accuracy. Statistics drawn from this categorization aim to outline the current state-of-the-art, as well as trends and effective practices for the future of effective, accessible, and acceptable eldercare with technology.

Keywords: AAL; Alzheimer’s; IoT; dementia; devices; elders; old age; sensors; wearables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Review study classification taxonomy. IoT, Internet of Things; CVD, cardiovascular disease.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Case study classification taxonomy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Review studies according to their health focus. CVD, cardiovascular disease.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Review studies according to Internet of Things (IoT) technology devices are presented.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Categories of criteria examined in review studies.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Case study papers according to their health focus.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Case study papers according to the IoT devices used.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Case study papers according to their aim. AAL, ambient assisted living.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Case studies with evaluation according to their duration.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Case studies with evaluation according to their participant number.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Case studies with evaluation according to their outcome measures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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