Abstract
ObjectiveTo define accelerometer cut points for different walking speeds in older adults with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease.MethodA volunteer sample of 30 older adults (mean age 73; SD 5.4 years) with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease walked at self-defined brisk, normal, and slow speeds for three minutes in a circular indoor hallway, each wearing an accelerometer around the waist. Walking speed was calculated and used as a reference measure. Through ROC analysis, accelerometer cut points for different levels of walking speed in counts per 15 seconds were generated, and a leave-one-out cross-validation was performed followed by a quadratic weighted Cohen’s Kappa, to test the level of agreement between true and cut point–predicted walking speeds.ResultsOptimal cut points for walking speeds ≤ 1.0 m/s were ≤ 328 and ≤ 470 counts/15 sec; for speeds > 1.3 m/s, they were ≥ 730 and ≥ 851 counts/15 sec for the vertical axis and vector magnitude, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity were 61%–100% for the developed cut points. The quadratic weighted Kappa showed substantial agreement: κ = 0.79 (95% CI 0.70–0.89) and κ = 0.69 (95% CI 0.56–0.82) for the vertical axis and the vector magnitude, respectively.ConclusionsThis study provides accelerometer cut points based on walking speed for physical-activity measurement in older adults with Parkinson’s disease for evaluation of interventions and for investigating links between physical activity and health.
Highlights
The positive health effects of physical activity for the general population are countless [1], and physical activity and exercise can be especially advantageous for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD); effects include general improvement of health, prevention of depression, a decrease in fatigue, improved functional performance and drug efficiency, and an optimization of the dopaminergic system [2]
The quadratic weighted Kappa showed substantial agreement: κ = 0.79 and κ = 0.69 for the vertical axis and the vector magnitude, respectively
This study provides accelerometer cut points based on walking speed for physical-activity measurement in older adults with Parkinson’s disease for evaluation of interventions and for investigating links between physical activity and health
Summary
The positive health effects of physical activity for the general population are countless [1], and physical activity and exercise can be especially advantageous for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD); effects include general improvement of health, prevention of depression, a decrease in fatigue, improved functional performance and drug efficiency, and an optimization of the dopaminergic system [2]. Intensity is of great interest when measuring physical activity in a PD population. When evaluating physical activity interventions, population-specific methods of measurement must be chosen. Recall can constitute a great cognitive task [9], and the most common activity performed by older adults is light-tomoderate-intensity physical activity—which is the most difficult to recall [9, 10]. Objective measurements such as accelerometry are preferable when measuring the activity of older adults [11]
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