Perturbation training to reduce fall risk in elderly: validating the quantified recovery performance measure by means of the assessment by physiotherapists

Master thesis (2017)

Authors

M.C. Meeuwsen Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

W. Mugge (supervisor 1)
J.H. Pasma (supervisor 1)
A.C. Schouten (supervisor 2)
J.J. van den Dobbelsteen (supervisor 2)
V. van der Wijk (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2017 Marleen Meeuwsen
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Published Date

20-10-2017

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Implementation of perturbation training for elderly requires a validated measure to quantify someone’s ability to recover
when encountering a perturbation. A quantified recovery performance has been constructed for the anteroposterior
(QRPAP) and for mediolateral (QRPML) plane, the QRPAP and QRPML reflect the amount of deviation of the center of
pressure trajectory from the unperturbed walking pattern. The QRPAP and QRPML were calculated for eleven elderly
subjects (>65 years), who experienced 66 perturbations (accelerations and decelerations) during treadmill walking.
The constructed QRPAP and QRPML were validated in this study (1) by comparing them to the rated recovery performance
(RRT) as provided by physiotherapists and (2) by studying how they were affected by an increased specified
difficulty (SpD) of perturbations. The used perturbation characteristics for the SpD’s were validated with the perceived
difficulty (PD) as reported by the subjects for each perturbation. A positive relation confirmed the increase of PD with
an increase of SpD. Both for the QRPAP and the QRPML a positive relation was found with the RRP and a negative relation
was found with the SpD. The QRPAP showed a stronger relation with the RRP and was found to be more sensitive
when compared to the QRPML. The relation of the QRPAP with the RRP was consistent across physiotherapists. Implementation of the QRPAP during perturbation training will decrease the attention demanded of physiotherapists and will remove the offset observed across physiotherapists. Progress can be monitored objectively and training difficulty can
be adjusted accordingly.