Evaluation of walking activity and gait to identify physical and mental fatigue in neurodegenerative and immune disorders: preliminary insights from the IDEA-FAST feasibility study.

The fatigue ratings were subjective patient reports, not an objective measure of fatigue. The analysed disease cohorts were small, with some cohorts as few as 9 participants, and the six disease groups were pooled together, so disease-specific patterns were not tested. Some participants showed limited variation in fatigue ratings, and the 0 to 6 scale may not have captured subtle changes. Data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and walking bouts were often short, with only 25% lasting over 30 seconds. The walking and step detection algorithms were not validated on all of the disease groups studied. The study did not analyse medication, age, sex, or time of day as possible confounders.

The paper names the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking, the National Institute for Health and Care Research Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, and the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility as funders.

Do not conclude that a wearable can diagnose fatigue from walking. The study found only weak associations and classifier performance near chance, so it is preliminary feasibility evidence, not a validated clinical test.