Ultrasound Muscle Assessment and Nutritional Status in Institutionalized Older Adults: A Pilot Study

Muscle thickness, measured by ultrasonography, has been investigated for nutritional assessment in older adults, however the associations between muscle ultrasound parameters in the lower limb and nutritional status have not been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between muscle thickness echo intensity (EI), and nutritional status in home care residents. A cross sectional study was conducted involving 19 older adults from a home care in Malaga (Spain). We evaluated lower leg muscles by ultrasound, anthropometric data, physical function (measured by gait speed and the Short Physical Performance Battery), strength (handgrip and knee extensors strength) and nutritional status across the Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF). We found that muscle thickness assessed by ultrasonography independently predicts nutritional status by MNA-SF and after adjusting for handgrip strength or age and sex. As secondary findings, we found relations between strength, functional capacity and the MNA-SF test. These results suggest that lower leg muscle ultrasound parameters could be used as a low-cost objective method for muscle evaluation in nutritional assessment in older adults

Análisis del movimiento humano en escenarios ambulatorios y hospitalarios en fisioterapia.

Los objetivos generales de esta tesis fueron: en primer lugar, estudiar el uso de sistemas avanzados de evaluación del movimiento humano en pacientes ambulatorios a través del uso de sensores inerciales en pruebas de salto vertical en adultos jóvenes. En segundo lugar, estudiar el uso de sistemas avanzados de evaluación de variables relacionadas con el movimiento humano en pacientes institucionalizados a través del uso de ecografía muscular. El capítulo 1 se trata de una introducción común de los estudios que componen la presente tesis. El capítulo 2 se compone de dos estudios en los que se investigó el uso de los sensores inerciales incluidos en un smartphone en la evaluación de diferentes pruebas de salto vertical en población adulta sana. En el artículo I se analiza las diferencias por género de dos pruebas de salto vertical (SJ y CMJ) a través de un smartphone. En el artículo II se describe el análisis de una prueba polimétrica de salto vertical (DJ) desde diferentes alturas utilizando un smartphone. En el capítulo 3 se describe el uso de métodos avanzados de evaluación con el uso de la ecografía musculoesquelética en la valoración integral del paciente geriátrico a través de los artículos III y IV que componen esta tesis. En el artículo III se analizan las relaciones existentes entre la arquitectura muscular del músculo recto femoral y una prueba funcional de potencia en miembros inferiores en adultos mayores. En el artículo IV se estudia la relación de variables de arquitectura y calidad muscular en el miembro inferior medidas con ecografía y la valoración del estado nutricional en adultos mayores institucionalizados. En el capítulo 4 se realiza una discusión general de los estudios que componen la tesis

Mobile Jump Assessment (mJump): A descriptive and inferential study

Background Vertical jump tests are used in athletics and rehabilitation to measure physical performance in people of different age ranges and fitness. Jumping ability can be analyzed through different variables, and the most commonly used are fly time and jump height. They can be obtained by a variety of measuring devices, but most are limited to laboratory use only. The current generation of smartphones contains inertial sensors that are able to record kinematic variables for human motion analysis, since they are tools for easy access and portability for clinical use. Objective The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the kinematics characteristics using the inertial sensor incorporated in the iPhone 4S, the lower limbs strength through a manual dynamometer, and the jump variables obtained with a contact mat in the squat jump and countermovement jump tests (fly time and jump height) from a cohort of healthy people. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted on a population of healthy young adults. Twenty-seven participants performed three trials (n=81 jumps) of squat jump and countermovement jump tests. Acceleration variables were measured through a smartphone’s inertial sensor. Additionally, jump variables from a contact mat and lower limbs dynamometry were collected. Results In the present study, the kinematic variables derived from acceleration through the inertial sensor of a smartphone iPhone 4S, dynamometry of lower limbs with a handheld dynamometer, and the height and flight time with a contact mat have been described in vertical jump tests from a cohort of young healthy subjects. The development of the execution has been described, examined and identified in a squat jump test and countermovement jump test under acceleration variables that were obtained with the smartphone. Conclusions The built-in iPhone 4S inertial sensor is able to measure acceleration variables while performing vertical jump tests for the squat jump and countermovement jump in healthy young adults. The acceleration kinematics variables derived from the smartphone’s inertial sensor are higher in the countermovement jump test than the squat jump test

Kinematic Mobile Drop Jump Analysis at Different Heights Based on a Smartphone Inertial Sensor

The purpose of this study was to describe the acceleration variables in a plyometric jump test using the inertial sensor built into an iPhone 4S® smartphone, and the jumping variables from a contact mat. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 16 healthy young adults. Linear acceleration, flight time, contact time and jump height were measured in a drop jump test from 60 cm and from 30 cm. Greater acceleration values were found in the drop jump test from 60 cm; the same was observed for the values from the contact mat. Multiple regression analysis was performed for each drop jump test: jump height was used as the dependent variable, and the most relevant variables were used as predictor variables (weight and maximum angular velocity in the Y axis for analysis of the drop jump from 60 cm, and weight and maximum acceleration in the Z axis for the drop jump from 30 cm). We found a significant regression model for the drop jump test from 60 cm (R2 = 0.515, p "0.001) and for the test from 30 cm (R2 = 0.460, p "0.01). According to the results obtained in this study, the built-in iPhone 4S® inertial sensor is able to measure acceleration for healthy young adults performing a vertical drop jump test. The acceleration kinematic variables are higher in the drop jump test from 60 cm than from 30 cm. </p

KINEMATIC ANALYSIS BY GENDER IN DIFFERENT JUMP TESTS BASED ON A SMARTPHONE INERTIAL SENSOR

Introduction: Vertical jump tests can be used as estimators of muscular power, physical capacity, motor development and functional capacity. The ability to jump can be analyzed with different methods, including the use of inertial sensors. Objective: To describe and analyze kinematic characteristics using the inertial sensor integrated into the iPhone 4S (R) and jump contact mat variables in the squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) tests, and to determine the interaction between kinetic and kinematic variables. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 27 healthy young adults. The primary outcome measures were linear acceleration, flight time, contact time, jump height and dynamometry of the knee extensors. Spearman's rho was used to investigate the correlation between variables. The Mann-Whitney U rank-sum test was used for the analysis of intergender variance. Results: The greatest difference between groups (gender) was in the dynamometry variables (

Ultrasound muscle assessment and nutritional status in institutionalized older adults: A pilot study

Muscle thickness, measured by ultrasonography, has been investigated for nutritional assessment in older adults, however the associations between muscle ultrasound parameters in the lower limb and nutritional status have not been studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between muscle thickness echo intensity (EI), and nutritional status in home care residents. A cross sectional study was conducted involving 19 older adults from a home care in Malaga (Spain). We evaluated lower leg muscles by ultrasound, anthropometric data, physical function (measured by gait speed and the Short Physical Performance Battery), strength (handgrip and knee extensors strength) and nutritional status across the Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF). We found that muscle thickness assessed by ultrasonography independently predicts nutritional status by MNA-SF and after adjusting for handgrip strength or age and sex. As secondary findings, we found relations between strength, functional capacity and the MNA-SF test. These results suggest that lower leg muscle ultrasound parameters could be used as a low-cost objective method for muscle evaluation in nutritional assessment in older adults.</p