Quantifying Circadian Aspects of Mobility-Related Behavior in Older Adults by Body-Worn Sensors-An "Active Period Analysis".

Tim Fleiner,Peter Haussermann,Anna Hollinger,Rieke Trumpf,Wiebren Zijlstra

doi:10.3390/s21062121

Tim Fleiner, Peter Haussermann + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s21062121

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Abstract

Disruptions of circadian motor behavior cause a significant burden for older adults as well as their caregivers and often lead to institutionalization. This cross-sectional study investigates the association between mobility-related behavior and subjectively rated circadian chronotypes in healthy older adults. The physical activity of 81 community-dwelling older adults was measured over seven consecutive days and nights using lower-back-worn hybrid motion sensors (MM+) and wrist-worn actigraphs (MW8). A 30-min and 120-min active period for the highest number of steps (MM+) and activity counts (MW8) was derived for each day, respectively. Subjective chronotypes were classified by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire into 40 (50%) morning types, 35 (43%) intermediate and six (7%) evening types. Analysis revealed significantly earlier starts for the 30-min active period (steps) in the morning types compared to the intermediate types (p ≤ 0.01) and the evening types (p ≤ 0.01). The 120-min active period (steps) showed significantly earlier starts in the morning types compared to the intermediate types (p ≤ 0.01) and the evening types (p = 0.02). The starting times of active periods determined from wrist-activity counts (MW8) did not reveal differences between the three chronotypes (p = 0.36 for the 30-min and p = 0.12 for the 120-min active period). The timing of mobility-related activity, i.e., periods with the highest number of steps measured by hybrid motion sensors, is associated to subjectively rated chronotypes in healthy older adults. The analysis of individual active periods may provide an innovative approach for early detecting and individually tailoring the treatment of circadian disruptions in aging and geriatric healthcare.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilMorning lark or night owl—what is your preferred time of the day? The growing knowledge of and interest in the impact of circadian rhythms in daily life refers to circadian medicine [1], where individual chronotypes and circadian characteristics play a key role in society and health care [2].Physiological processes and behaviors synchronized to a 24 h structure are defined as circadian [3,4]
Both studies used sensor-based approaches to monitor mobility-related physical activity but did not address chronotypes and circadian aspects of motor behavior. As these mobility-related measurements promise an added value over wrist-worn actigraphs for use in diagnostics and treatment, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the association between the timing of mobility-related active periods and subjectively rated chronotypes in healthy older adults
The analysis revealed significant differences in the timesThe forstarting the 30-min and 120-min active period between the starting chronotypes

Summary

Introduction

The growing knowledge of and interest in the impact of circadian rhythms in daily life refers to circadian medicine [1], where individual chronotypes and circadian characteristics play a key role in society and health care [2]. The stability of circadian behaviors is especially relevant in older adults and geriatric health care, where aspects of circadian behavior may show deviations ranging from age-associated changes in subjective chronotypes [5] to clinical syndromes [6]. Disease-related changes of the circadian system occur, for example, as sleep disturbances with reversed day-night rhythms [7], or sundowning phenomena with increased levels of physical activity (PA) and behavioral disturbances in the afternoon and evening hours [8,9].

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