Beyond the clinic : maximum free-living stepping as a potential measure of physical performance

Tools

Speirs, Craig and Dunlop, Mark D. and Roper, Marc and Granat, Malcolm (2023) Beyond the clinic : maximum free-living stepping as a potential measure of physical performance. Sensors, 23 (14). 6555. ISSN 1424-8220 (https://doi.org/10.3390/s23146555)

[thumbnail of Speirs-etal-Sensors-2023-maximum-free-living-stepping-as-a-potential-measure-of-physical-performance]
Preview
 Text. Filename: Speirs_etal_Sensors_2023_maximum_free_living_stepping_as_a_potential_measure_of_physical_performance.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 logo
Download (982kB)| Preview

Abstract

Measures of physical performance captured within a clinical setting are commonly used as a surrogate for underlying health or disease risk within an individual. By measuring physical behaviour within a free-living setting, we may be able to better quantify physical performance. In our study, we outline an approach to measure maximum free-living step count using a body-worn sensor as an indicator of physical performance. We then use this approach to characterise the maximum step count over a range of window durations within a population of older adults to identify a preferred duration over which to measure the maximum step count. We found that while almost all individuals (97%) undertook at least one instance of continuous stepping longer than two minutes, a sizeable minority of individuals (31%) had no periods of continuous stepping longer than six minutes. We suggest that the maximum step count measured over a six-minute period may be too sensitive to the adults’ lack of opportunity to undertake prolonged periods of stepping, and a two-minute window could provide a more representative measure of physical performance.

ORCID iDs

Speirs, Craig, Dunlop, Mark D. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4593-1103, Roper, Marc ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6794-4637 and Granat, Malcolm;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)