181 research outputs found
Tatari, tautoko, tauawhi - Hei awhina tamariki ki te panui pukapuka: Some preliminary findings
The Tatari, Tautoko, Tauawhi reading tutoring procedures have been adapted from the procedures known as Pause, Prompt, Praise, first developed in Mangere in 1977. The first author offered the procedures as a koha at a Special Education Service hui at Poho o Rawiri in 1991. The second author took up the koha and obtained the support of kaumatua and kuia at Hairini marae Tauranga Moana, and the support of senior Maori staff of the Special Education Service National Office to produce a Maori language video and training booklet. This began an important bicultural journey through the processes of producing instructional materials and trailing and evaluating them in ways that are biculturally appropriate. This paper reports on that journey and presents some preliminary data on the implementation of Tatari, Tautoko, Tauawhi by seven tuakana - teina pairs in a bi-lingual classroom
Prediction of sustained harmonic walking in the free-living environment using raw accelerometry data
Objective. Using raw, sub-second level, accelerometry data, we propose and
validate a method for identifying and characterizing walking in the free-living
environment. We focus on the sustained harmonic walking (SHW), which we define
as walking for at least 10 seconds with low variability of step frequency.
Approach. We utilize the harmonic nature of SHW and quantify local periodicity
of the tri-axial raw accelerometry data. We also estimate fundamental frequency
of observed signals and link it to the instantaneous walking (step-to-step)
frequency (IWF). Next, we report total time spent in SHW, number and durations
of SHW bouts, time of the day when SHW occurred and IWF for 49 healthy, elderly
individuals. Main results. Sensitivity of the proposed classification method
was found to be 97%, while specificity ranged between 87% and 97% and
prediction accuracy between 94% and 97%. We report total time in SHW between
140 and 10 minutes-per-day distributed between 340 and 50 bouts. We estimate
the average IWF to be 1.7 steps-per-second. Significance. We propose a simple
approach for detection of SHW and estimation of IWF, based on Fourier
decomposition. The resulting approach is fast and allows processing of a
week-long raw accelerometry data (approx. 150 million measurements) in
relatively short time (~half an hour) on a common laptop computer (2.8 GHz
Intel Core i7, 16 GB DDR3 RAM)
Stride variability measures derived from wrist- and hip-worn accelerometers
Many epidemiological and clinical studies use accelerometry to objectively
measure physical activity using the activity counts, vector magnitude, or
number of steps. These measures use just a fraction of the information in the
raw accelerometry data as they are typically summarized at the minute level. To
address this problem we define and estimate two gait measures of temporal
stride-to-stride variability based on raw accelerometry data: Amplitude
Deviation (AD) and Phase Deviation (PD). We explore the sensitivity of our
approach to on-body placement of the accelerometer by comparing hip, left and
right wrist placements. We illustrate the approach by estimating AD and PD in
46 elderly participants in the Developmental Epidemiologic Cohort Study (DECOS)
who worn accelerometers during a 400 meter walk test. We also show that AD and
PD have a statistically significant association with the gait speed and
sit-to-stand test performanc
PREDICTING HUMAN MOVEMENT TYPE BASED ON MULTIPLE ACCELEROMETERS USING MOVELETS
We introduce statistical methods for prediction of types of human movement based on three tri-axial accelerometers worn simultaneously at the hip, left, and right wrist. We compare the individual performance of the three accelerometers using movelets and propose a new prediction algorithm that integrates the information from all three accelerometers. The development is motivated by a study of 20 older subjects who were instructed to perform 15 different types of activities during in-laboratory sessions. The differences in the prediction performance for different activity types among the three accelerometers reveal subtle yet important insights into how the intrinsic physical features of human movements could be effectively utilized in prediction. The proposed integrative movelet method takes into account those findings to augment the prediction accuracy and improve our understanding of human movement measurements
Translation and validation of the Dutch Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale for older adults
Background The original Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS) was developed to assess perceived fatigability in older adults. The objective of this study was to translate the PFS into Dutch and investigate its validity and reliability among hospitalized older adults aged >= 70 years. Methods The PFS was translated into Dutch and pretested for comprehensibility by the Three-Step Test Interview method. The factor structure underlying the final version was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analyses (EFA). Internal consistency of the identified subscales was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was evaluated by hypothesis testing. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland Altman plots. Results The validation sample included 233 patients. CFA of the original factor structure resulted in poor model fit in our Dutch sample. EFA of PFS physical and mental subscales resulted in a two-factor solution underlying the data with good internal consistency of the identified subscales (Cronbach's alpha: 0.80-0.92). Five out of six hypotheses were confirmed, indicating good construct validity. Retest assessments were performed among 50 patients and showed good reliability for both the physical (ICC: 0.80, 95%CI: 0.68; 0.88) and mental subscale (ICC: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.68; 0.89). Conclusion The Dutch PFS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess fatigability in older hospitalized patients
Use of Functional Linear Models to Detect Associations between Characteristics of Walking and Continuous Responses Using Accelerometry Data
Various methods exist to measure physical activity. Subjective methods, such as diaries and surveys, are relatively inexpensive ways of measuring one’s physical activity; however, they are prone to measurement error and bias due to self-reporting. Wearable accelerometers offer a non-invasive and objective measure of one’s physical activity and are now widely used in observational studies. Accelerometers record high frequency data and each produce an unlabeled time series at the sub-second level. An important activity to identify from the data collected is walking, since it is often the only form of activity for certain populations. Currently, most methods use an activity summary which ignores the nuances of walking data. We propose methodology to model specific continuous responses with a functional linear model utilizing spectra obtained from the local fast Fourier transform (FFT) of walking as a predictor. Utilizing prior knowledge of the mechanics of walking, we incorporate this as additional information for the structure of our transformed walking spectra. The methods were applied to the in-the-laboratory data obtained from the Developmental Epidemiologic Cohort Study (DECOS)
Calibration and Cross-Validation of Accelerometer Cut-Points to Classify Sedentary Time and Physical Activity from Hip and Non-Dominant and Dominant Wrists in Older Adults
Accelerometersâ accuracy for sedentary time (ST) and moderate-to-vigorous physical
activity (MVPA) classification depends on accelerometer placement, data processing, activities, and
sample characteristics. As intensities differ by age, this study sought to determine intensity cutpoints at various wear locations people more than 70 years old. Data from 59 older adults were used
for calibration and from 21 independent participants for cross-validation purposes. Participants
wore accelerometers on their hip and wrists while performing activities and having their energy
expenditure measured with portable calorimetry. ST and MVPA were defined as â€1.5 metabolic
equivalents (METs) and â„3 METs (1 MET = 2.8 mL/kg/min), respectively. Receiver operator
characteristic (ROC) analyses showed fair-to-good accuracy (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.62â0.89).
ST cut-points were 7 mg (cross-validation: sensitivity = 0.88, specificity = 0.80) and 1 count/5 s (crossvalidation: sensitivity = 0.91, specificity = 0.96) for the hip; 18 mg (cross-validation: sensitivity = 0.86,
specificity = 0.86) and 102 counts/5 s (cross-validation: sensitivity = 0.91, specificity = 0.92) for the nondominant wrist; and 22 mg and 175 counts/5 s (not cross-validated) for the dominant wrist. MVPA
cut-points were 14 mg (cross-validation: sensitivity = 0.70, specificity = 0.99) and 54 count/5 s (crossvalidation: sensitivity = 1.00, specificity = 0.96) for the hip; 60 mg (cross-validation: sensitivity = 0.83,
specificity = 0.99) and 182 counts/5 s (cross-validation: sensitivity = 1.00, specificity = 0.89) for the
non-dominant wrist; and 64 mg and 268 counts/5 s (not cross-validated) for the dominant wrist.
These cut-points can classify ST and MVPA in older adults from hip- and wrist-worn accelerometers.University of Pittsburgh Claude D. Pepper Older
Americans Independence Center, Research Registry and Developmental Pilot Grant (no. NIH P30
AG024827)National Institute on Aging Professional Services Contract HHSN271201100605P
supported AREA/DECOSIntramural Research
Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, and by research grants
AG036594, and AG000181 from the National Institutes of HealthBiomedical Research Networking Center on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES)FEDER funds from the European Union (CB16/10/00477)Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (FJC2018-037925-I)Plan Propio de
InvestigaciĂłn 2020 from the University of Granada-Programa Contratos-Puent
Socioeconomic differences in the benefits of structured physical activity compared with health education on the prevention of major mobility disability in older adults: the LIFE study.
BACKGROUND: Evidence is lacking on whether health-benefiting community-based interventions differ in their effectiveness according to socioeconomic characteristics. We evaluated whether the benefit of a structured physical activity intervention on reducing mobility disability in older adults differs by education or income. METHODS: The Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) study was a multicentre, randomised trial that compared a structured physical activity programme with a health education programme on the incidence of mobility disability among at-risk community-living older adults (aged 70-89â
years; average follow-up of 2.6â
years). Education (†high school (0-12â
years), college (13-17â
years) or postgraduate) and annual household income were self-reported (<25â
000 to 50â
000). The risk of disability (objectively defined as loss of ability to walk 400â
m) was compared between the 2 treatment groups using Cox regression, separately by socioeconomic group. Socioeconomic groupĂintervention interaction terms were tested. RESULTS: The effect of reducing the incidence of mobility disability was larger for those with postgraduate education (0.72, 0.51 to 1.03; N=411) compared with lower education (high school or less (0.93, 0.70 to 1.24; N=536). However, the education groupĂintervention interaction term was not statistically significant (p=0.54). Findings were in the same direction yet less pronounced when household income was used as the socioeconomic indicator. CONCLUSIONS: In the largest and longest running trial of physical activity amongst at-risk older adults, intervention effect sizes were largest among those with higher education or income, yet tests of statistical interactions were non-significant, likely due to inadequate power. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01072500
Association of leukocyte telomere length with perceived physical fatigability
BACKGROUND: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a potential genomic marker of biological aging, but its relation to fatigability, a prognostic indicator of phenotypic aging (e.g., functional decline) is unknown. We hypothesized shorter LTL would predict greater perceived physical fatigability, but that this association would be attenuated by adjusting for chronological age.
METHODS: Two generations of participants (N = 1997; 309 probands, 1688 offspring) were from the Long Life Family Study (age = 73.7 ± 10.4, range 60-108, 54.4 % women), a longitudinal cohort study of aging. LTL was assayed at baseline. Perceived physical fatigability was measured 8.0 ± 1.1 years later using the validated, self-administered 10-item Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS, 0-50, higher scores = greater fatigability). Generalized estimating equations were generated to model the association between LTL and PFS Physical scores.
RESULTS: Prevalence of greater physical fatigability (PFS scoresâ„15) was 41.9 %. Using generalized estimating equations, a one kilobase pair shorter LTL was associated with higher PFS Physical scores (ÎČ = 1.8, p \u3c .0001), accounting for family structure, and adjusting for field center, follow-up time, sex, and follow-up body mass index, physical activity, and chronic health conditions. When age was included as a covariate, the association was fully attenuated (ÎČ = 0.1, p = .78).
CONCLUSION: LTL may provide an alternative method for estimating an individual\u27s lifetime exposure to chronic stressors, but does not appear to provide additional information not captured by chronological age. Further research is needed to characterize the interaction between age, LTL, and perceived fatigability, and develop a method of identifying individuals at risk for deleterious aging
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