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A Method for Quantifying Upper Limb Performance in Daily Life Using Accelerometers
Published on: April 21, 2017
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How shoulder immobilization influences daily physical activity - an accelerometer based preliminary study.
Carolin Rickert1, Monika Grabowski2, Georg Gosheger3
1Department of Orthopaedics and Tumororthopaedics, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1 Gebäude A1, University Hospital Muenster, Münster, Germany. carolin.rickert@ukmuenster.de.
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
|February 26, 2020
Summary
Shoulder immobilization significantly reduces daily physical activity and increases sedentary behavior, even in healthy young adults. Promoting activity during recovery is crucial for overall health, especially for longer immobilization periods.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Sports Medicine
Background:
- Sedentary behavior's negative health impacts are often overlooked in orthopedics.
- Shoulder immobilization, common after surgery, may reduce physical activity and general health.
- Previous research linked lower extremity immobilization to decreased physical activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of shoulder immobilization on daily physical activity levels.
- To quantify changes in gait cycles and sedentary behavior during shoulder orthosis use.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-one healthy volunteers wore a shoulder orthosis for 10 hours daily over two consecutive days.
- Activity was measured using an accelerometer-based step count monitor (StepWatchTM Activity Monitor).
- Gait cycles per minute and total daily gait cycles were recorded; subjective activity was assessed via questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Shoulder immobilization significantly reduced daily activity by 2227.5 gait cycles compared to non-immobilization.
- Sedentary behavior ( < 400 steps/h) significantly increased during shoulder immobilization.
- Medium-level activity (800-999 steps/h) was significantly higher without the orthosis; low and high activity levels showed no significant difference.
Conclusions:
- Even short-term shoulder immobilization (2 days) significantly decreases physical activity in healthy young adults.
- Prolonged immobilization, especially in older patients, may negatively affect general health.
- Incorporating physical activity promotion into rehabilitation is essential for shoulder injury/surgery recovery.
