Fall Risk Assessment Using Wearable Sensors: A Narrative Review

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Gerontology
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Fall risk assessment is crucial in fall-related research.
• Wearable sensors offer objective fall risk assessment, surpassing traditional questionnaires.
• Current systems lack standardization, hindering the understanding of multifactorial fall causes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a narrative review of fall risk assessment methods using wearable sensors in scientific literature.
• To identify trends in sensor types, experimental protocols, and classification algorithms.
• To analyze validation processes for developed fall risk assessment systems.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search for studies employing wearable sensors in fall risk assessment.
• Comprehensive analysis of sensor characteristics, performed activities, and classification algorithms.
• Review of validation methodologies used in the selected studies.

Main Results:

• Identified trends in commonly used wearable sensors and their specifications.
• Cataloged typical activities included in experimental protocols for fall risk assessment.
• Summarized the variety of algorithms employed for fall risk classification.
• Assessed the approaches to validation in existing fall risk assessment systems.

Conclusions:

• Standardizing wearable sensor-based fall risk assessment is essential.
• Identifying trends will aid researchers in designing reliable, innovative solutions.
• Enhancing reliability through standardization can lead to a homogeneous benchmark for fall risk assessment.