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Martins A1, Moreira J1, Silva C1
1IPC ESTeSC Coimbra Health School, Physiotherapy, Coimbra, Portugal
Background: Falls are a major health concern among older adults. As people age, the incidence of these accidents increases, with high impact on quality of life and health care costs. Falls are a significant threat to safety, independence and lead to social isolation. Falls prevention programs can be tailored or be provided with the same components to all people.
Purpose: To describe FallSensing system, a multifactorial tool designed to screen fall risk and to provide fall prevention programs in community-dwelling adults, according to their risks and living settings.
Methods: FallSensing integrates a software, a pressure platform and two inertial measurement units. The software includes screening and interventional modules. The screening combines different functional tests with questions regarding risk factors. The intervention module has different options, such as a clinical tool and a serious games tool. The intervention module is based on Otago Exercise Programme. The clinical tool, monitored with inertial sensors and pressure platform, includes all Otago exercises, and allows an immediate feedback both to the patient and the physiotherapist, who should supervise the exercise session. The serious games component, with an Antarctic theme, includes Otago exercises combined in three different games. The main actors are penguins, used as avatars. The scores are monitored with one inertial sensor per player.
Results: The screening tool was tested on 537 community-dwellers, with 50 years or more, a representative sample of the Portuguese population. The clinical tool was tested on 30 voluntaries with the same profile. The serious games module was tested on 20 persons. In the primary trials, the clinical module included 10 sessions, with approximately 80% of adherence; the serious games module included 16 sessions, with around 100% of adherence. Self-efficacy for exercise and balance improved with both exercise solutions.
Conclusion(s): FallSensing system represents an innovative tool, which combines both screening and interventional tools. It has potential to help preventing falls considering the usability and acceptance of the system during the trials. However, there is a need of further trials, in order to collect information about effects on balance and rate of falls, regarding clinical and serious games modules.
Implications: More new technologies are being used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation supporting patients and therapists. FallSensing uses new technology to bring physical therapy practice more valuable information at the fall risk screening process and more interactive, complete and diverse forms of intervention.
Keywords: Accidental falls, Community-dwelling adults, Biomedical Technology
Funding acknowledgements: Authors would like to thank the PT2020 (project 3464), COMPETE 2020 and ERDF-EU and all participants.
Purpose: To describe FallSensing system, a multifactorial tool designed to screen fall risk and to provide fall prevention programs in community-dwelling adults, according to their risks and living settings.
Methods: FallSensing integrates a software, a pressure platform and two inertial measurement units. The software includes screening and interventional modules. The screening combines different functional tests with questions regarding risk factors. The intervention module has different options, such as a clinical tool and a serious games tool. The intervention module is based on Otago Exercise Programme. The clinical tool, monitored with inertial sensors and pressure platform, includes all Otago exercises, and allows an immediate feedback both to the patient and the physiotherapist, who should supervise the exercise session. The serious games component, with an Antarctic theme, includes Otago exercises combined in three different games. The main actors are penguins, used as avatars. The scores are monitored with one inertial sensor per player.
Results: The screening tool was tested on 537 community-dwellers, with 50 years or more, a representative sample of the Portuguese population. The clinical tool was tested on 30 voluntaries with the same profile. The serious games module was tested on 20 persons. In the primary trials, the clinical module included 10 sessions, with approximately 80% of adherence; the serious games module included 16 sessions, with around 100% of adherence. Self-efficacy for exercise and balance improved with both exercise solutions.
Conclusion(s): FallSensing system represents an innovative tool, which combines both screening and interventional tools. It has potential to help preventing falls considering the usability and acceptance of the system during the trials. However, there is a need of further trials, in order to collect information about effects on balance and rate of falls, regarding clinical and serious games modules.
Implications: More new technologies are being used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation supporting patients and therapists. FallSensing uses new technology to bring physical therapy practice more valuable information at the fall risk screening process and more interactive, complete and diverse forms of intervention.
Keywords: Accidental falls, Community-dwelling adults, Biomedical Technology
Funding acknowledgements: Authors would like to thank the PT2020 (project 3464), COMPETE 2020 and ERDF-EU and all participants.
Topic: Older people; Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing; Information management, technology & big data
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra
Ethics committee: Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: Nº6/2017
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
