Taking balance measurement out of the laboratory and into the home: Discriminatory capability of novel centre of pressure measurement in fallers and non-fallers

Denise McGrath, Emer P. Doheny, Lorcan Walsh, David McKeown, Clodagh Cunningham, Lisa Crosby, Rose Anne Kenny, Nicholas Stergiou, Brian Caulfield, Barry R. Greene

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

We investigated three methods for estimating centre of pressure excursions, as measured using a portable pressure sensor matrix, in order to deploy similar technology into the homes of older adults for longitudinal monitoring of postural control and falls risk. We explored the utility of these three methods as markers of falls risk in a cohort of 120 community dwelling older adults with and without a history of falls (65 fallers, 55 non-fallers). A number of standard quantitative balance parameters were derived using each centre of pressure estimation method. Rank sum tests were used to test for significant differences between fallers and non-fallers while intra-class correlation coefficients were also calculated to determine the reliability of each method. A method based on estimating the changes in the magnitude of pressure exerted on the pressure sensor matrix was found to be the most reliable and discriminative. Our future work will implement this method for home-based balance measurement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2012
Pages3296-3299
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS 2012 - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Aug 28 2012Sep 1 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
ISSN (Print)1557-170X

Conference

Conference34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period8/28/129/1/12

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Signal Processing
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Health Informatics

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