title: Body-worn sensor based surrogates of minimum ground clearance in elderly fallers and controls.
abstract: Falls in the elderly are a major problem worldwide with enormous associated economic and societal costs. Minimum ground clearance (MGC) is an important gait variable when considering trip-related falls risk. This study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of inertial sensor derived parameters, previously shown to be related to MGC. Previous research by the authors reported a surrogate method for assessing minimum ground clearance (MGC) using shank-mounted inertial sensors in young controls. The present study tests this method on a cohort of 114 community dwelling elderly adults, with and without a history of falls, completing a 30 m continuous walk. Parameters based on the shank angular velocity signals that were shown to be associated with MGC showed significant differences (p<0.05) between fallers and non-fallers yet did not correlate strongly (r<0.7) with two standard measures of falls risk (TUG & BBS). Weak correlations were observed between the angular velocity derived parameters and gait velocity. We conclude that these parameters are clinically meaningful and therefore may constitute a new measure of falls risk.
authors.affiliation: TRIL Centre and Intel Labs, Leixlip, Co Kildare, Ireland. barry.r.greene@intel.com
authors.forename: Barry R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McGrath
authors.forename: Timothy G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Foran
authors.forename: Emer P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Doheny
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caulfield
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D009068:Movement; D004856:Postural Balance; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016138:Walking