Date Presented 04/06/19
The purpose of this study was to explore the psychometrics of commercially available activity monitors for remote monitoring of repetitive task practice. This was completed in a controlled setting with healthy middle-age adults, as a precursor to clinical exploration.
Primary Author and Speaker: MacKenzie Gough
Additional Authors and Speakers: Taylor McElroy, Elena Donoso Brown, Fiona Kessler, Jenna Gallipoli
Contributing Authors: Rachael Miller Neilan
PURPOSE: Frequent and intense practice is critical for motor recovery post-stroke. Home programs provide individuals the opportunity to complete exercises without therapist supervision and often use task repetitive practice (Lang & Birkenmeier, 2014). However, monitoring adherence home programs relies mostly on client report. Therefore, better methods for monitoring home program interventions are needed. Commercially available activity monitors may be able to support home program monitoring, yet the utility of data collected via activity monitors has not been explored for this specific purpose (Gebruers, Vanroy, Truijen, Engelborghs, & Deyn, 2010). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the psychometrics of commercially available activity monitors for remote monitoring of repetitive task practice to answer the research question: Can commercially available activity monitors be used to measure task repetitive practice in a consistent and meaningful way?
DESIGN: This study used a cross-sectional quantitative design. Participants enrolled in the study were a convenience sample of volunteers from the local community. The sample consisted of adults aged 35-65 and without a history of limited upper extremity movement.
METHOD: Participants engaged in five functional tasks (i.e., picking up a grocery bag, opening a mailbox, picking up a cup, name writing, and tying a shoe) in a single session while wearing activity monitors (i.e., Microsoft Bands) on each wrist. Functional tasks were repeated across four different conditions (i.e., 5, 10, and 20 repetitions at a comfortable pace, 10 repetitions as fast as you can) and one repeated condition.
The activity monitors collected data onduration, angular velocity and acceleration with respect to the x, y, and z axes during each set.Data were exported and processed through a custom Matlab program that calculated duration, average total angular velocity (i.e., x + y + z) and average total acceleration for each set. These data were transferred into an SPSS data file for calculation of preliminary descriptive statistics.
RESULTS: The initial sample consisted of seven participants who were right handed with an average age of 48.4 years old (Range: 36-64). Preliminary descriptive analysis found that the three variables of interest operated in a consistent manner. Duration consistently increased as the number of repetitions increased for all tasks. This is reflected in the average duration of repetitions across all tasks when comparing 5 repetitions (Mean = 33.26s), 10 repetitions (Mean = 53.70s), and 20 repetitions (Mean = 96.38s). Average total angular velocity for 10 repetitions was consistently 10 degrees/s greater when participants were asked to go as fast as they could to complete the task compared to 10 repetitions at a comfortable pace, across every task except writing. Finally, average total acceleration remained consistent within a task regardless of number of repetitions or speed (Range 1.48-1.68 degrees/second). Full analysis will include statistical comparison of variables using intraclass correlation coefficients and parametric tests.
CONCLUSION: Duration, average total angular velocity, and average total acceleration differed in predictable ways with changes in task repetitions and speed across both gross and fine motor tasks.
IMPACT STATEMENT: This research project is an important first step in exploring the feasibility of using activity monitors as a technological support in home program monitoring. Future research should investigate how these variables function with individuals who have upper extremity motor impairments post-stroke for increased understanding of potential clinical applications.
References
Gebruers, N., Vanroy, C., Truijen, S., Engelborghs, S., & Deyn, P. P. (2010). Monitoring of physical activity after stroke: A systematic review of accelerometry-based measures. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 91(2), 288-297. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2009.10.025
Lang, C. E., & Birkenmeier, R. L. (2014). Upper-extremity task-specific training after stroke or disability: A manual for occupational therapy and physical therapy. Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press
