Abstract
The development of context-appropriate sensor technologies could alleviate the significant burden of stroke in Sub-Saharan African rehabilitation clinicians and health care facilities. However, many commercially available wearable sensors are beyond the financial capabilities of the majority of African persons. In this study, we evaluated the concurrent validity of a low-cost wearable sensor (i.e., the outREACH sensor) to measure upper limb movement kinematics of 31 healthy persons, using an 8-camera Vicon motion capture system as the reference standard. The outREACH sensor showed high correlation (r range: 0.808–0.990) and agreement (mean difference range: −1.60 to 1.10) with the reference system regardless of task or kinematic parameter. Moreover, Bland-Altman analyses indicated that there were no significant systematic errors present. This study indicates that upper limb movement kinematics can be accurately measured using the outREACH sensor, and have the potential to enhance stroke evaluation and rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights
Stroke is a leading cause of adult long-term disability in sub-Saharan African countries, with a substantial increase in the incidence of stroke in the past 20 years (Owolabi et al, 2015)
The outREACH sensor produced tracings representative of upper limb movements, with kinematics that did not differ from the reference system
We introduced a new low-cost wearable sensor designed to enhance stroke evaluation and rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa and described validation of its performance against a reference optical motion capture system
Summary
Stroke is a leading cause of adult long-term disability in sub-Saharan African countries, with a substantial increase in the incidence of stroke in the past 20 years (Owolabi et al, 2015). In contrast to developed countries, stroke occurs 10 to 15 years earlier in sub-Saharan Africa (Murray and Lopez, 1997; Walker et al, 2000, 2003), with stroke survivors exhibiting poorer prognoses (Feigin et al, 2009), and more severe long-term physical disabilities (e.g., weakness or paralysis, sensory loss, spasticity) than their counterparts from developed nations (Owolabi and Ogunniyi, 2009; Bosch et al, 2014). Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa, with a population of
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