Measuring Community Participation in Lower Limb Amputees
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing a Measure of Community Participation Levels of Lower Limb Amputees Using Wearable Sensors
IRAS ID
331158
Contact name
Lauren Gracey-McMinn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Salford
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 18 days
Research summary
This study aims to determine if a wearable sensor system for identifying community vs home-based activity is achievable in lower limb prostheses users. It follows on from a pilot study conducted in 2023 at the University of Salford, which successfully trialled the system in an able-bodied population.
Current poor quality outcome measures prevent comparison between studies and limit the ability to assess interventions and changes to prosthetic design or prescription. As the wear and usage of a prosthesis is the decisive measure of its success, monitoring activity in a free-living environment could provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of a prosthesis in real-world situations. We hypothesise that the length of walking periods (bouts) and the frequency of turning, will enable automatic determination of periods spent at home vs in the community, as has been done successfully in the pilot study with an able-bodied population.
Two activPAL activity monitors will be used to collect accelerometer data (to assess walking bout length) and magnetometer data (to assess turning frequency). A model will be produced to automatically identify community and home-based activity; this will be validated by participant-reported activity diaries. The "gold-standard" location for activPAL activity monitoring is on the thigh, however device placement within the shank of a prosthesis would be more beneficial in lower limb prosthesis users due to consistency of device location regardless of the level of their amputation. Therefore, in this study, devices will be placed on both the thigh and the shank of the prosthesis.REC name
London - City & East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/PR/0687
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jun 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion