Real-Time Fatigue and Physical Activity of Older Adults in Assisted Living: Feasibility of Ecological Momentary Assessment.
Katelyn E Webster-Dekker, Yvonne Lu, Eileen Hacker
PMID 40459329WHAT IT FOUND
Real-time monitoring of fatigue and movement worked in assisted living residents.
For wheelchair users, activity was linked to higher fatigue shortly after, but for walkers, there was no link. This is a small pilot, so treat these findings as preliminary.
Key findings
01Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) using a wrist monitor was feasible, with 94% of participants wearing the device for at least four valid days and 97% willing to repeat the process.
02In non-ambulatory participants (wheelchair/scooter users), higher physical activity in the preceding 30, 60, and 120 minutes was significantly associated with higher real-time fatigue scores.
03No significant associations between fatigue and physical activity were found for the overall sample or for ambulatory participants.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was a small pilot not powered for the secondary aim of examining fatigue-activity relationships. The sample was primarily White and female, and recruited from only six facilities in one geographic area, limiting generalizability. Only two participants ambulated without assistive devices, so this group was merged with those using devices, potentially masking specific effects. The Actiwatch device used has been discontinued, making exact replication difficult. Comorbidities, medications, sleep, and mild cognitive impairment were not controlled for in the analysis.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physical activity causes fatigue in all assisted living residents. The significant link between activity and subsequent fatigue was found only in the non-ambulatory subgroup, and the study was not powered to establish causality.