Technology-Based Fall Risk Assessments for Older Adults in Low-Income Settings: Protocol for a Cross-sectional Study

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Abstract

Background

One-third of older adults have maladaptive fall risk appraisal (FRA), a condition in which there is a discrepancy between the level of fear of falling (FOF) and physiological fall risk (balance performance). Older adults who overestimate their physiological fall risk and report a high FOF are less likely to participate in physical activity. Limited data suggest that the association among FOF, body composition, and physical activity intensity differs by fear severity.

Objective

This study aims to examine the associations among FRA, body composition, and physical activity using assistive health technology, including the BTrackS balance system, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and activity monitoring devices. This study also aims to examine the feasibility of recruitment and acceptability of technologies and procedures for use among older adults in low-income settings.

Methods

This cross-sectional study will be conducted in older adults’ homes or apartments in low-income settings in Central Florida, United States. Following consent, participants will be contacted, and our team will visit them twice. The first visit includes questionnaire completion (eg, sociodemographic or FOF) and balance performance test using the BTrackS balance system. The participants will be stratified by the FRA matrix. In addition, they will perform hand grip strength and dynamic balance performance tests. Participants will then be asked to wear the ActiGraph GT9X Link wireless activity monitor on the nondominant wrist for 7 consecutive days. The second visit includes body composition testing and a structured interview about the acceptability of the technologies and procedures.

Results

Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board of the University of Central Florida (protocol number 2189; September 10, 2020). As of December 2020, participation enrollment is ongoing and the results are expected to be published in Summer 2022.

Conclusions

Accurate FRA is essential for implementing physical activity programs, especially in older adults with low income. This study will provide data for developing technology-based fall risk assessments to improve participation in physical activity, thus enhancing healthy longevity among older adults in low-income settings.

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/27381

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Most cited references 60

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"Physical activity," "exercise," and "physical fitness" are terms that describe different concepts. However, they are often confused with one another, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. This paper proposes definitions to distinguish them. Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. The energy expenditure can be measured in kilocalories. Physical activity in daily life can be categorized into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities. Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are either health- or skill-related. The degree to which people have these attributes can be measured with specific tests. These definitions are offered as an interpretational framework for comparing studies that relate physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness to health.

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Development and initial validation of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I).

Lucy Yardley, Nina Beyer, Klaus Hauer … (2005)

There is a need for a measure of fear of falling that assesses both easy and difficult physical activities and social activities and is suitable for use in a range of languages and cultural contexts, permitting direct comparison between studies and populations in different countries and settings. To develop a modified version of the Falls Efficacy Scale to satisfy this need, and to establish its psychometric properties, reliability, and concurrent validity (i.e. that it demonstrates the expected relationship with age, falls history and falls risk factors). Cross-sectional survey. Community sample. 704 people aged between 60 and 95 years completed The Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I) either in postal self-completion format or by structured interview. The FES-I had excellent internal and test-retest reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.96, ICC=0.96). Factor analysis suggested a unitary underlying factor, with two dimensions assessing concern about less demanding physical activities mainly in the home, and concern about more demanding physical activities mainly outside the home. The FES-I had slightly better power than the original FES items to discriminate differences in concern about falling between groups differentiated by sex, age, occupation, falls in the past year, and falls risk factors (chronic illness, taking multiple or psychoactive medications, dizziness). The FES-I has close continuity with the best existing measure of fear of falling, excellent psychometric properties, and assesses concerns relating to basic and more demanding activities, both physical and social. Further research is required to confirm cross-cultural and predictive validity.

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A 30-s chair-stand test as a measure of lower body strength in community-residing older adults.

C. J. Jones, R E Rikli, W C Beam (1999)

Measuring lower body strength is critical in evaluating the functional performance of older adults. The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability and the criterion-related and construct validity of a 30-s chair stand as a measure of lower body strength in adults over the age of 60 years. Seventy-six community-dwelling older adults (M age = 70.5 years) volunteered to participate in the study, which involved performing two 30-s chair-stand tests and two maximum leg-press tests, each conducted on separate days 2-5 days apart. Test-retest intraclass correlations of .84 for men and .92 for women, utilizing one-way analysis of variance procedures appropriate for a single trial, together with a nonsignificant change in scores from Day 1 testing to Day 2, indicate that the 30-s chair stand has good stability reliability. A moderately high correlation between chair-stand performance and maximum weight-adjusted leg-press performance for both men and women (r = .78 and .71, respectively) supports the criterion-related validity of the chair stand as a measure of lower body strength. Construct (or discriminant) validity of the chair stand was demonstrated by the test's ability to detect differences between various age and physical activity level groups. As expected, chair-stand performance decreased significantly across age groups in decades--from the 60s to the 70s to the 80s (p < .01) and was significantly lower for low-active participants than for high-active participants (p < .0001). It was concluded that the 30-s chair stand provides a reasonably reliable and valid indicator of lower body strength in generally active, community-dwelling older adults.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Ladda Thiamwong:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8506-5812

College of NursingUniversity of Central Florida12201 Research ParkwayOrlando, FL, 32826United States1 4072830470ladda.thiamwong@ucf.edu

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): JMIR Res Protoc

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): JMIR Res Protoc

Journal ID (publisher-id): ResProt

Title: JMIR Research Protocols

Publisher: JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Electronic): 1929-0748

Publication date Collection: April 2021

Publication date (Electronic): 7 April 2021

Volume: 10

Issue: 4

Electronic Location Identifier: e27381

Affiliations

[1 ] College of Nursing University of Central Florida Orlando, FL United States

[2 ] Disability, Aging and Technology Cluster University of Central Florida Orlando, FL United States

[3 ] School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy College of Health Professions and Sciences University of Central Florida Orlando, FL United States

[4 ] Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department University of Central Florida Orlando, FL United States

[5 ] Department of Statistics and Data Science University of Central Florida Orlando, FL United States

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Ladda Thiamwong ladda.thiamwong@ 123456ucf.edu

Author information

Ladda Thiamwong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8506-5812

Jeffrey R Stout https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6114-1649

Joon-Hyuk Park https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7977-3302

Xin Yan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9253-3290

Article

Publisher ID: v10i4e27381

DOI: 10.2196/27381

PMC ID: 8060859

PubMed ID: 33825688

SO-VID: 38558f4f-372a-475f-b68c-ba34022f877f

Copyright statement: ©Ladda Thiamwong, Jeffrey R Stout, Joon-Hyuk Park, Xin Yan. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 07.04.2021.

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Research Protocols, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.researchprotocols.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 22 January 2021

Date accepted : 19 February 2021

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Self URI: https://www.researchprotocols.org/2021/4/e27381

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ext-peer-rev This paper was peer reviewed by the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords: body composition,falls,risk assessment,technology,wearable devices,accidental falls,fear

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Keywords: body composition, falls, risk assessment, technology, wearable devices, accidental falls, fear

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Technology-Based Fall Risk Assessments for Older Adults in Low-Income Settings: Protocol for a Cross-sectional Study

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JMIR: Research Protocols

Most cited references 60

Physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research.

Development and initial validation of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I).

A 30-s chair-stand test as a measure of lower body strength in community-residing older adults.

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