Why the study?
Do sensor technologies accurately assess fall risk and predict future falls in older adults?
Do sensor technologies accurately assess fall risk and predict future falls in older adults?
While sensor technologies offer potential for inexpensive and easy fall risk assessment in older adults, methodological variations currently preclude firm conclusions on their predictive ability.
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Sensor technologies should not yet inform fall risk decisions in older adults; standardized protocols are needed to resolve predictive utility.
A wide range of sensor technologies have been utilized in fall risk assessment in older adults. Overall, these devices have the potential to provide an accurate, inexpensive, and easy-to-implement fall risk assessment. However, the variation in measured parameters, assessment tools, sensor sites, movement tasks, and modelling techniques, precludes a firm conclusion on their ability to predict future falls. Future work is needed to determine a clinical meaningful and easy to interpret fall risk diagnosis utilizing sensing technology. Additionally, the gap between functional evaluation and user experience to technology should be addressed.
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Sun et al. (2018) studied this question.
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