title: An analysis of the accuracy of wearable sensors for classifying the causes of falls in humans.
abstract: Falls are the number one cause of injury in older adults. Wearable sensors, typically consisting of accelerometers and/or gyroscopes, represent a promising technology for preventing and mitigating the effects of falls. At present, the goal of such "ambulatory fall monitors" is to detect the occurrence of a fall and alert care providers to this event. Future systems may also provide information on the causes and circumstances of falls, to aid clinical diagnosis and targeting of interventions. As a first step towards this goal, the objective of the current study was to develop and evaluate the accuracy of a wearable sensor system for determining the causes of falls. Sixteen young adults participated in experimental trials involving falls due to slips, trips, and "other" causes of imbalance. Three-dimensional acceleration data acquired during the falling trials were input to a linear discriminant analysis technique. This routine achieved 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity in distinguishing the causes of a falls using acceleration data from three markers (left ankle, right ankle, and sternum). In contrast, a single marker provided 54% sensitivity and two markers provided 89% sensitivity. These results indicate the utility of a three-node accelerometer array for distinguishing the cause of falls.
authors.affiliation: Injury Prevention and Mobility Laboratory, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: Stephen N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Robinovitch
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D000842:Ankle / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010388:Pelvis / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012306:Risk; D013249:Sternum / Q000502:physiology; D014159:Transducers; D055815:Young Adult