Measuring energy expenditure after stroke: validation of a portable device

Current means of assessing physical activity and energy expenditure have restrictions in stroke, limiting our understanding of its role in therapeutic management. This study validates a portable multisensor array for measuring free-living total energy expenditure compared with a gold standard method (doubly labeled water) in individuals with stroke.

Daily energy expenditure was measured in 9 participants with stroke (73 ± 8 years) over a 10-day period with 2 techniques: a portable multisensor array and doubly labeled water.

Bland-Altman analysis revealed a mean difference of 94 kcal/day (3.8%) in total energy expenditure measures given by the multisensor array in comparison to doubly labeled water with lower and upper limits of agreement of -276 to 463.8 kcal/day (2473 ± 468 versus 2380 ± 551, P=0.167). There was strong agreement between the multisensor array and labeled water methods of capturing total daily energy expenditure (r=0.850, P=0.004).

The multisensor array is a portable and accurate method of capturing daily energy expenditure and may assist in understanding how stroke influences free-living energy expenditure and aid in clinical management.