Comparison of motion sensor and heart rate monitor for assessment of physical activity intensity in stroke outpatient rehabilitation sessions: an observational study.
Stéphanie Goncalves, Stéphane Mandigout, Morgane Le Bourvellec and 1 others
PMID 38915294WHAT IT FOUND
Motion sensors and heart rate monitors give very different readings of how hard stroke patients work in rehab.
One device showed no moderate activity while the other showed plenty. Do not rely on a single device to judge session intensity.
Key findings
01The two devices disagreed significantly on time spent in sedentary, moderate and vigorous activity categories, with the motion sensor reporting far more sedentary time and the heart rate monitor reporting more moderate activity.
02For low-intensity physical activity, there was no significant difference between the devices, although individual estimates varied widely.
03The motion sensor missed activities involving little arm movement, such as stationary cycling or parallel bar gait training, while the heart rate monitor may have overestimated intensity for people taking beta-blockers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
There was no gold standard measure (like indirect calorimetry) to determine which device was more accurate, so the study can only show they disagree, not who is right. Data from 52 of the 198 recorded sessions were excluded due to signal loss or technical issues, reducing the sample size. The heart rate monitor's accuracy is limited by the use of age-predicted maximum heart rate formulas, which may not be precise for people with stroke or those on beta-blockers. The armband was placed on the non-paretic arm, which may not capture the effort of using the affected side or lower-limb-only exercises.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the disagreement between devices as evidence that one is broken. Both have specific limitations in this population: the armband misses non-arm movements, and the heart rate monitor is affected by medication and stroke physiology. Using a single device without knowing these biases will give you a misleading picture of your patient's activity intensity.