Walk Test With Smartphone Sensor Can Classify Fall Risk in Amputees

FRIDAY, Aug. 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In lower-limb amputees, automated foot strikes from a six-minute walk test (6MWT) can be used to calculate step-based features for fall risk classification, according to a study published online Aug. 18 in PLOS Digital Health.
Pascale Juneau, from Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues evaluated fall risk classification using the random forest model with a recently developed automated foot strike detection approach. A total of 80 lower-limb amputees (27 fallers and 53 nonfallers) performed a 6MWT with a smartphone at the posterior pelvis. A novel Long Short-Term Memory approach was used to complete automated foot strike detection. Using manually labeled or automated foot strikes, step-based features were calculated.
The researchers found that for 64 of 80 participants, manually labeled foot strikes correctly classified fall risk (accuracy, 80 percent; sensitivity, 55.6 percent; specificity, 92.5 percent). Fifty-eight of 80 participants were correctly classified by automated foot strikes (accuracy, 72.5 percent; sensitivity, 55.6 percent; specificity, 81.1 percent). Equivalent fall classification results were seen with both approaches, but six more false positives were seen with automated foot strikes.
"This study demonstrated that automatically detected foot strikes from a single smartphone sensor location on the body can be used to calculate step-based features for lower limb amputees after completing a 6MWT, leading to preliminary fall risk classification," the authors write.
Related Posts
FDA Withdraws Approval of Drug Meant to Prevent Preterm Births
THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug...
Es menos probable que las nuevas variantes de COVID provoquen pérdida del olfato y el gusto, según un estudio
MIÉRCOLES, 11 de mayo de 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Desde el principio de la...
Infections Reported After Single Dose of Monkeypox Vaccine
TUESDAY, Oct. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Most cases of monkeypox that occur...
More Typos: Workers’ Mistakes Rise on Fridays, Study Shows
FRIDAY, Aug. 4, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Workers may sense it intuitively but...