Abstract
BackgroundDementia is a global epidemic and incurs substantial burden on the affected families and the health care system. A window of opportunity for intervention is the predementia stage known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Individuals often present to services late in the course of their disease and more needs to be done for early detection; sensor technology is a potential method for detection.ObjectiveThe aim of this cross-sectional study was to establish the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing sensors in the homes of senior citizens to detect changes in behaviors unobtrusively.MethodsWe recruited 59 community-dwelling seniors (aged >65 years who live alone) with and without MCI and observed them over the course of 2 months. The frequency of forgetfulness was monitored by tagging personal items and tracking missed doses of medication. Activities such as step count, time spent away from home, television use, sleep duration, and quality were tracked with passive infrared motion sensors, smart plugs, bed sensors, and a wearable activity band. Measures of cognition, depression, sleep, and social connectedness were also administered.ResultsOf the 49 participants who completed the study, 28 had MCI and 21 had healthy cognition (HC). Frequencies of various sensor-derived behavior metrics were computed and compared between MCI and HC groups. MCI participants were less active than their HC counterparts and had more sleep interruptions per night. MCI participants had forgotten their medications more times per month compared with HC participants. The sensor system was acceptable to over 80% (40/49) of study participants, with many requesting for permanent installation of the system.ConclusionsWe demonstrated that it was both feasible and acceptable to set up these sensors in the community and unobtrusively collect data. Further studies evaluating such digital biomarkers in the homes in the community are needed to improve the ecological validity of sensor technology. We need to refine the system to yield more clinically impactful information.
Highlights
BackgroundDementia is a neurodegenerative disease of epidemic proportions and incurs substantial burden on the affected families and the health care system
Half of the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) participants were of the amnestic subtype and half were of the nonamnestic subtype
With the sensor-derived data, we found that MCI participants were less active than their healthy cognition (HC) counterparts; MCI participants had an average of 3407 steps a https://www.jmir.org/2020/5/e16854
Summary
BackgroundDementia is a neurodegenerative disease of epidemic proportions and incurs substantial burden on the affected families and the health care system. There is an urgent need for the early detection of MCI to facilitate monitoring and intervention and to allow individuals and their families to plan ahead. Dementia is a global epidemic and incurs substantial burden on the affected families and the health care system. The frequency of forgetfulness was monitored by tagging personal items and tracking missed doses of medication Activities such as step count, time spent away from home, television use, sleep duration, and quality were tracked with passive infrared motion sensors, smart plugs, bed sensors, and a wearable activity band. Conclusions: We demonstrated that it was both feasible and acceptable to set up these sensors in the community and unobtrusively collect data Further studies evaluating such digital biomarkers in the homes in the community are needed to improve the ecological validity of sensor technology. We need to refine the system to yield more clinically impactful information
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