Automatic and Real-Time Computation of the 30-Seconds Chair-Stand Test without Professional Supervision for Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

The present paper describes a system for older people to self-administer the 30-s chair stand test (CST) at home without supervision. The system comprises a low-cost sensor to count sit-to-stand (SiSt) transitions, and an Android application to guide older people through the procedure. Two observational studies were conducted to test (i) the sensor in a supervised environment (n = 7; m = 83.29 years old, sd = 4.19; 5 female), and (ii) the complete system in an unsupervised one (n = 7; age 64–74 years old; 3 female). The participants in the supervised test were asked to perform a 30-s CST with the sensor, while a member of the research team manually counted valid transitions. Automatic and manual counts were perfectly correlated (Pearson’s r = 1, p = 0.00). Even though the sample was small, none of the signals around the critical score were affected by harmful noise; p (harmless noise) = 1, 95% CI = (0.98, 1). The participants in the unsupervised test used the system in their homes for a month. None of them dropped out, and they reported it to be easy to use, comfortable, and easy to understand. Thus, the system is suitable to be used by older adults in their homes without professional supervision.

Unobtrusive Sensors for the Assessment of Older Adult’s Frailty: A Scoping Review

“…These groups of studies show a strong imbalance in favor of studies on activity patterns with the rest of the phenomena having a marginal presence. Even though studies on STS transitions and gait patterns are the most numerous, most of them do not monitor transparent activities: 14 out of 25 STS studies [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] and 17 out of 21 gait studies [ 57 , 58 , 63 , 64 , 70 , 72 , 73 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ] rely on non-transparent activities.…”

“…The vast majority (all but one) of the studies relying on non-transparent activities involve an instrumented version of a standardized clinical test. The five repetitions chair-stand test (STS5) [ 57 , 59 , 60 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ] and the 30-s CST [ 58 , 61 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] in STS studies; the 3 m Walking Test (3-mWT), 4-mWT, 6-minWT, etc. in gait studies [ 57 , 58 , 63 , 64 , 70 , 72 , 73 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ]; the TUG test in up-and-go studies [ 59 , 62 , 64 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 ]; the SPPB balance test [ 57 , 64 ], quiet standing test [ 63 ], one-foot eyes-closed [ 58 , 70 ] Romberg’s test [ 104 , 105 ], or two-feet eyes-closed [ 86 ] in balance studies; a weight scale in weight studies [ 58 , 70 …”

Association between 30-s Chair Stand-Up Test and Anthropometric Values, Vibration Perception Threshold, FHSQ, and 15-D in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…The 30-s chair stand-up test is a test with many advantages. There is a very fast learning curve for the evaluator; the materials needed to perform it are commonly used, easy to use, and inexpensive; and the test does not require professional personnel to carry it out [ 27 ]. The test is very fast since it does not require more than 1 min per evaluation.…”

Smart Sensors for Healthcare and Medical Applications

“…Seven articles focused on patients’ motor functions for potential application in rehabilitation or in the assessment of their functional impairment [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. The first article proposes a novel contactless method, based on electrostatic field, for extracting gait features of hemiplegic patients [ 18 ], together with an improved version of the traditional detrended cross-correlation analysis to analyze the signal collected on 10 hemiparetic patients and 10 healthy volunteers.…”

“…The system was assessed on two groups of cerebral palsy and typically developing children showing good results in the movements evaluation of the right arm during the proposed rehabilitation sessions. The fourth article investigates a system for monitoring a medical exam (i.e., 30 s chair stand test) used to assess the functional status of elderly people [ 21 ]. The aim was to develop a system able to achieve the counts of sit-to-stand transitions without the supervision of a physician, and to guide the people through the whole exam via a home care application.…”