title: Pilot evaluation of an unobtrusive system to detect falls at nighttime.
abstract: Research shows that older people (aged 65 years and over) suffer many unintentional indoor falls which often lead to severe injuries. As a result of an increasingly aged population in developed countries, a sizable portion of healthcare funding is consumed in the treatment of fall-related injuries and associated long-term care. Detecting falls soon after they occur can be potentially live saving. In addition, early treatment of fall-related injuries can reduce treatment costs by minimizing health deterioration resulting from long periods spent incapacitated on the floor after a fall (a scenario known as a `long lie') and decreasing the number of hospital bed-days required. In this study, a previously proposed unobtrusive nighttime fall detection system based on wireless passive infrared sensors and furniture load sensors is evaluated in a pilot study involving three older subjects, monitored for a combined total of 174 days. No falls occurred during the study. The system reported a false alarm rate of 0.53 falls per day, which is comparable with similar unobtrusive and wearable sensor fall detection solutions.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.lastname: Zhaonan Zhang
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Nigel H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Lovell
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D009068:Movement; D017440:Photoperiod; D010865:Pilot Projects