Modular hip exoskeleton improves walking function and reduces sedentary time in community-dwelling older adults.
Chandrasekaran Jayaraman, Kyle R Embry, Chaithanya K Mummidisetty and 8 others
PMID 36585676WHAT IT FOUND
Twelve older adults trained with a hip exoskeleton in their senior community.
Walking speed and endurance improved beyond clinically important thresholds. Daily sedentary time dropped by 112 minutes. No falls or injuries occurred. This is a small pilot, so efficacy is not yet proven.
Key findings
01Participants showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in walking speed, endurance, and balance after twelve sessions.
02Ten participants with usable sensor data showed a significant reduction in daily sedentary bouts and total sedentary time.
03The intervention was safe, with no adverse events, device malfunctions, or falls reported.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was a small pilot with only twelve participants, all from a single senior living community, so results may not generalize to the broader older adult population. There was no control group. Improvements cannot be definitively attributed to the exoskeleton rather than the exercise itself or the Hawthorne effect of being studied. Sedentary data was missing for two participants due to sensor failure, and one participant had incomplete pre-intervention data. The study did not assess long-term retention of gains or whether the reduced sedentary behavior persisted after the intervention ended. The comparison to traditional exercise was based on a separate study (Wang 2015), not a concurrent control, making direct efficacy comparisons weak.
Declared interests
Funded by the Max Nader Lab at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. The device used (GEMS-H) is manufactured by Samsung Electronics, but the paper does not state if Samsung funded the study or provided the devices for free.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude the exoskeleton is superior to standard exercise. This was a single-arm pilot with no control group. The improvements might have occurred with any progressive gait training program, and the comparison to traditional exercise was indirect.