@article{ref1,
title="Body-worn sensor based surrogates of minimum ground clearance in elderly fallers and controls",
journal="Conference proceedings - IEEE engineering in medicine and biology society",
year="2011",
author="Greene, Barry R. and McGrath, Denise and Foran, Timothy G. and Doheny, Emer P. and Caulfield, Brian",
volume="2011",
number="",
pages="6499-6502",
abstract="Falls in the elderly are a major problem worldwide with enormous associated economic and societal costs. Minimum ground clearance (MGC) is an important gait variable when considering trip-related falls risk. This study aimed to investigate the clinical relevance of inertial sensor derived parameters, previously shown to be related to MGC. Previous research by the authors reported a surrogate method for assessing minimum ground clearance (MGC) using shank-mounted inertial sensors in young controls. The present study tests this method on a cohort of 114 community dwelling elderly adults, with and without a history of falls, completing a 30m continuous walk. Parameters based on the shank angular velocity signals that were shown to be associated with MGC showed significant differences (p<0.05) between fallers and non-fallers yet did not correlate strongly (r<0.7) with two standard measures of falls risk (TUG & BBS). Weak correlations were observed between the angular velocity derived parameters and gait velocity. We conclude that these parameters are clinically meaningful and therefore may constitute a new measure of falls risk.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1557-170X",
doi="10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6091732",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6091732"
}