title: Counting Steps in Institutionalized Older Adults During Daily Life Activities: The Validation of Two Motion Sensors.
abstract: The primary purpose of this study was to assess the validity of two motion sensors in measuring steps in institutionalized older adults during daily life activities. Sixty-eight nursing home residents (85.8 ± 5.6 years) were equipped with a hip-worn and ankle-worn piezoelectric pedometer (New Lifestyles 2000) and with an arm-mounted multisensor (SenseWear Mini). An investigator with a hand counter tallied the actual steps. The results revealed that the multisensor and hip- and ankle-worn pedometer significantly underestimated step counts (89.6 ± 17.2%, 72.9 ± 25.8%, and 20.8 ± 24.6%, respectively). Walking speed accounted for 41.6% of the variance in percent error of the ankle-worn pedometer. The threshold value for accurate step counting was set at 2.35 km/hr, providing percent error scores within ± 5%. The ankle-worn piezoelectric pedometer can be useful for accurate quantification of walking steps in the old and old-old (≥ 85 years) walking faster than 2.35 km/hr.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martien
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delecluse
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seghers
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008297:Male; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*