Toward Remote Assessment of Physical Frailty Using Sensor-based Sit-to-stand Test

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Digital Health

Background:

• Traditional physical frailty (PF) screening is resource-intensive and not suitable for remote assessment.
• Objective measurement of PF and its phenotypes (slowness, weakness, exhaustion) is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To objectively assess physical frailty (PF) and its phenotypes using the five times sit-to-stand test (5xSTS) with wearable sensors.
• To determine the ability of sensor-derived 5xSTS variables to distinguish between robust and prefrail/frail older adults.

Main Methods:

• 102 older adults performed the 5xSTS test while wearing trunk and thigh sensors.
• Seventeen sensor-derived variables were analyzed to identify PF, slowness, weakness, and exhaustion.
• Binary logistic regression and area under the curve (AUC) were used for analysis.

Main Results:

• Sensor-based 5xSTS duration strongly correlated with manual recordings (r=0.93).
• Sensor-derived variables significantly distinguished between robust and prefrail/frail groups (P<0.05) with medium to large effect sizes (Cohen's d=0.50-1.09).
• AUC values for identifying PF, slowness, weakness, and exhaustion ranged from 0.720 to 0.865.

Conclusions:

• Sensor-based 5xSTS provides objective digital biomarkers for PF, slowness, weakness, and exhaustion.
• The 5xSTS test's simplicity and safety facilitate remote PF assessment via telemedicine.