Ambulatory monitoring of mobility-related activities in rehabilitation medicine

Abstract

Within rehabilitation medicine, as well as in other medical disciplines, there is a need for reliable, sensitive and valid instmments to measure on the level of daily functioning. One of the possible perspectives is to regard daily functioning as a complete range of postures, transitions between postures, and movements, which together are called mobility-related activities. AII/bulatory monitoring enables measurements to be pelformed on persons without being restdcted by space due to use of e.g. instmments, cables, etc. Due to latest technological developments, an ambulatory instmment to measure mobility-related activities could be developed: the Activity Monitor (AM), which is the thread that mns throughout the thesis. The AM is an instrument based on long-term ambulatory accelerometry, and aimed at the measurement of mobility-related activities. Distinction is made between the aspects quantity (which activity is performed, when, how frequent, for how long), quality (how is the activity performed), and physical strain (the physical reaction of the body due to the pelformance of an activity). Activities such as walking, climbing stairs, driving a wheelchair, lying, standing, sitting, and the transitions between these body positions are aimed to be distinguished. The thesis is stmctured to cOlTespond with the three main aspects of mobility-related activities: quantity (chapters 3-8), quality (chapter 9), and physical strain (chapter 10); in chapter 11 all three aspects are studied