Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations
Abstract Background Cognitive impairment is a critical aspect of our aging society. Yet, it receives inadequate intervention due to delayed or missed detection. Dual-task gait analysis is currently considered a solution to improve the early detection of cognitive impairment in clinical settings. Rec...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Geriatrics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04042-6 |
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| author | Vânia Guimarães Inês Sousa Eling D. de Bruin Joana Pais Miguel Velhote Correia |
| author_facet | Vânia Guimarães Inês Sousa Eling D. de Bruin Joana Pais Miguel Velhote Correia |
| author_sort | Vânia Guimarães |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Cognitive impairment is a critical aspect of our aging society. Yet, it receives inadequate intervention due to delayed or missed detection. Dual-task gait analysis is currently considered a solution to improve the early detection of cognitive impairment in clinical settings. Recently, our group proposed a new approach for the gait analysis resorting to inertial sensors placed on the shoes. This pilot study aimed to investigate the potential of this system to capture and differentiate gait performance in the presence of cognitive impairment based on single- and dual-task gait assessments. Methods We analyzed demographic and medical data, cognitive tests scores, physical tests scores, and gait metrics acquired from 29 older adults with mobility limitations. Gait metrics were extracted using the newly developed gait analysis approach and recorded in single- and dual-task conditions. Participants were stratified into two groups based on their Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) global cognitive scores. Statistical analysis was performed to assess differences between groups, discrimination ability, and association of gait metrics with cognitive performance. Results The addition of the cognitive task influenced gait performance of both groups, but the effect was higher in the group with cognitive impairment. Multiple dual-task costs, dual-task variability, and dual-task asymmetry metrics presented significant differences between groups. Also, several of these metrics provided acceptable discrimination ability and had a significant association with MoCA scores. The dual-task effect on gait speed explained the highest percentage of the variance in MoCA scores. None of the single-task gait metrics presented significant differences between groups. Conclusions Our preliminary results show that the newly developed gait analysis solution based on foot-worn inertial sensors is a pertinent tool to evaluate gait metrics affected by the cognitive status of older adults relying on single- and dual-task gait assessments. Further evaluation with a larger and more diverse group is required to establish system feasibility and reliability in clinical practice. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT04587895) |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:58:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bd7ae0be4839429bab52b9ff941fbce7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2318 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:58:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Geriatrics |
| spelling | doaj.art-bd7ae0be4839429bab52b9ff941fbce72023-05-28T11:27:12ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182023-05-0123111910.1186/s12877-023-04042-6Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitationsVânia Guimarães0Inês Sousa1Eling D. de Bruin2Joana Pais3Miguel Velhote Correia4Fraunhofer Portugal AICOSFraunhofer Portugal AICOSInstitute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH ZurichNeuroinova, Lda.Faculty of Engineering, University of PortoAbstract Background Cognitive impairment is a critical aspect of our aging society. Yet, it receives inadequate intervention due to delayed or missed detection. Dual-task gait analysis is currently considered a solution to improve the early detection of cognitive impairment in clinical settings. Recently, our group proposed a new approach for the gait analysis resorting to inertial sensors placed on the shoes. This pilot study aimed to investigate the potential of this system to capture and differentiate gait performance in the presence of cognitive impairment based on single- and dual-task gait assessments. Methods We analyzed demographic and medical data, cognitive tests scores, physical tests scores, and gait metrics acquired from 29 older adults with mobility limitations. Gait metrics were extracted using the newly developed gait analysis approach and recorded in single- and dual-task conditions. Participants were stratified into two groups based on their Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) global cognitive scores. Statistical analysis was performed to assess differences between groups, discrimination ability, and association of gait metrics with cognitive performance. Results The addition of the cognitive task influenced gait performance of both groups, but the effect was higher in the group with cognitive impairment. Multiple dual-task costs, dual-task variability, and dual-task asymmetry metrics presented significant differences between groups. Also, several of these metrics provided acceptable discrimination ability and had a significant association with MoCA scores. The dual-task effect on gait speed explained the highest percentage of the variance in MoCA scores. None of the single-task gait metrics presented significant differences between groups. Conclusions Our preliminary results show that the newly developed gait analysis solution based on foot-worn inertial sensors is a pertinent tool to evaluate gait metrics affected by the cognitive status of older adults relying on single- and dual-task gait assessments. Further evaluation with a larger and more diverse group is required to establish system feasibility and reliability in clinical practice. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT04587895)https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04042-6Inertial sensorsGait analysisCognitive impairmentDual-taskOlder adultsMobility |
| spellingShingle | Vânia Guimarães Inês Sousa Eling D. de Bruin Joana Pais Miguel Velhote Correia Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations BMC Geriatrics Inertial sensors Gait analysis Cognitive impairment Dual-task Older adults Mobility |
| title | Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| title_full | Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| title_fullStr | Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| title_short | Minding your steps: a cross-sectional pilot study using foot-worn inertial sensors and dual-task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| title_sort | minding your steps a cross sectional pilot study using foot worn inertial sensors and dual task gait analysis to assess the cognitive status of older adults with mobility limitations |
| topic | Inertial sensors Gait analysis Cognitive impairment Dual-task Older adults Mobility |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04042-6 |
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