Co-sponsored by: Queensland Section QUT Student Chapter

Physical activity, especially for older adults, is emerging as a critical factor for healthy aging. Objective, unobtrusive and continuous assessment of physical activity could thus not only help in detecting change in health but also allow for better management of physical activity targeted interventions.

 In a first study, we assessed the potential of an ambient-sensor based physical activity assessment. Using longitudinal data from thirteen Swiss old and oldest old subjects, we could show that daily physical activity quantified by this methodology captures known associations with multiple cognitive and motor health outcomes and may thus be considered a sufficient approximation to older adults’ overall physical activity. Consequentially ambient-sensing could be an interesting alternative to self-reported or wearable-based physical activity assessments, allowing for unobtrusive, continuous and objective measurements without the need for any user-interaction.  

In a second study, we combined ambient-sensor based physical activity assessment with a bed sensor tracking heart rate and respiration in order to explore the potential for preventive information and for early recognition of  serious health problems. Continuous evaluation of a person’s fall risk could allow to make early interventions to prevent falls but also allow to reduce false positive rates of automated, sensor-based fall detection systems. Our results indicate that decreased handgrip strength and depression are the most prevalent findings in elderly persons prior to falls. Medical conditions with a potential for early preventive detection are heart failure, arrhythmias with tachycardia, sleep disorders and depression.

Speaker(s): Prof. Dr. Hugo Sanar,

Location:
Room: Ground Floor Auditorium
Bldg: 71/918
UQ Centre for Clinical Research Building
Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital Campus, Queensland
4029