PTOTOtherFrontiers in rehabilitation sciences2024

Validation of a tri-axial accelerometer for measuring physical activity in patients with subacute stroke.

Yosuke Kimura, Yoshiki Suzuki, Hiroki Kubo and 4 others

PMID 39850918

WHAT IT FOUND

The Active Style Pro accelerometer accurately estimated energy expenditure during walking and reaching in patients with subacute stroke who could walk independently.

Scores were similar regardless of whether the device was worn on the affected or unaffected side.

Key findings

01Correlation coefficients between the accelerometer and the gas analyzer were high for reaching tasks and very high for walking.

02The device provided comparable measurements whether worn on the paretic or non-paretic side of the waist.

03Bland-Altman analysis showed no significant fixed or proportional errors between the two measurement methods.

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 only included patients who could walk independently without physical assistance, so the results do not apply to more severely impaired individuals. Participants were relatively young (mean age 65.2 years) and had mild-to-moderate impairments, limiting generalizability to older or more disabled populations. The study validated the device only during specific sustained tasks (walking and reaching), not during variable daily activities like transfers or self-care. The sample size was small (n=23), which may affect the precision of the agreement limits.

Declared interests

The study was funded by JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP21K21234 and JP24K20508). The authors declared financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume this accelerometer is accurate for all stroke patients. The validation was limited to those who could walk independently without assistance and had mild-to-moderate impairments. It may not be reliable for patients with severe paralysis or those who require physical support to walk.

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