Biomechanical activity devices to index wandering behaviour in dementia

Abstract

Valid and reliable measures of wandering are needed to study this troubling behavior. Although researchers have used various perspectives, definitions, and approaches to study wandering, spontaneous ambulation is a key characteristic across all views. Biomechanical activity devices for capturing movement provide one way to index wandering. This study examined four devices with ambulatory nursing home residents with dementia (N = 178) who wore devices simultaneously during four observations. Among the Actillume, StepWatch, Step Sensor, and TriTrac-R3D, the StepWatch yielded data from the highest proportion of observations, explained the most variance (63.9 percent) among all instruments, and was acceptable to nursing staff. Although the Step Sensor was the staff's preferred device, its performance was least acceptable for research purposes. Results support use of the StepWatch in future studies of wandering.

Quantifying physical activity in daily life with questionnaires and motion sensors in COPD

“…In stroke patients, the StepWatch was shown to be more accurate than the Caltrac accelerometer [170] for detection of daily ambulatory activity. Furthermore, it was the most accurate among four devices used to detect walking in a study of nursing-home elderly people with dementia [171].…”

Direct measurement of human movement by accelerometry

“…The StepWatch has also been validated against a number of devices (including the TriTrac-R3D) on nursing home residents with dimentia. Here the StepWatch yielded data from the highest proportion of obser- vations, explained the most variance and was also acceptable to nursing staff [138]. The StepWatch has also been directly compared to the Dynastreams AMP331 pod.…”

Feasibility study of a real-time wandering detection algorithm for dementia patients

“…Biomechanical devices [5] have been employed to quantify activity levels of wandering subjects. Although there have been dramatic advances in the devices' design and userfriendliness, the capabilities of these commercially available products are limited at: 1) counting the number of steps the user has moved, e.g.…”