Determining if wearable sensors affect infant leg movement frequency.
Crystal Jiang, Christianne J Lane, Emily Perkins and 2 others
PMID 28613085WHAT IT FOUND
Wearable ankle sensors did not change how often infants moved their legs when compared with no sensors.
The overall difference was very small, and it was small in infants at risk for developmental delay.
Key findings
01Across all infants, the average difference between wearing sensors and not wearing sensors was 1.7 movements.
02The average difference was 10.2 movements in typically developing infants and 24.6 movements in infants at risk for developmental delay.
03The study did not test how much sensor weight would be needed to change infant leg movement frequency.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 20 infants were studied, and the authors said they did not power the study to detect a difference. Investigators were not blinded to group assignment. The study tested only 22 g Opal sensors attached in leg warmers. The amount of sensor weight needed to affect movement frequency was not tested. It recorded only supine spontaneous leg movements for 4 minutes. One data point in each group was an outlier, although removing them did not change the results.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The study received NIH and University of Southern California funding, and the funders did not design the study, collect or analyse data, interpret data, or write the manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that wearable sensors are harmless for all infant movement measurement. This study tested 22 g sensors attached in leg warmers for 4 minutes in 20 infants, and the sample was small and not powered to detect differences.