Remote monitoring and analysis of gait and falls within the elderly
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Remote monitoring and analysis of gait and falls within an elderly population
IRAS ID
240445
Contact name
Kalon Hewage
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Hip fractures are the most common injury and the single biggest cause of accidental death in the older population. Each year there are over 64000 hip fractures nationally which accounts for 1.5 million bed days at a cost to the NHS of over £1billion. Hip fractures are associated with a 30% risk of mortality within the first year. 20% of patients will sadly lose the independence they once enjoyed. This problem is universal and it is estimated that 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 will have a fall each year leading to unquantifiable levels of anxiety and fear over simple day to day activities.
With this research, we aim to identify measurable gait and balance parameters using novel remote monitoring hardware that can train a machine learning algorithm to predict an elderly subject’s risk of falling. The technology will allow the remote monitoring of vast numbers of patients in real time and allow for interventions to be put in place before a terminal event.
We aim to do this initial pilot study as an observational prospective cohort study, evaluating elderly patients who have capacity in NHS rehabilitation and community hospitals. The patients will each be recorded doing simple activities of daily living in two 2 hour sessions using a discrete wireless device. This will generate anonymous data set that can be used to train and refine our machine learning algorithm.REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
18/WA/0369
Date of REC Opinion
22 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion