Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2025
Home-Based Monitor for Gait and Activity Analysis
Published on: August 8, 2019
Psychometrics of Wearable Devices Measuring Physical Activity in Ambulant Children With Gait Abnormalities: A
Huib van Moorsel1, Barbara Engels2,3, Jacek Buczny4
1Institute for Human Movement Studies, University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Insights
Wearable devices show high reliability and moderate to high validity for measuring physical activity in children with abnormal gaits. Clinicians should consider factors that may affect assessments.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Movement Science
Background:
- Wearable devices are increasingly used to measure physical activity (PA) in various populations.
- Children with gait abnormalities due to neuromuscular conditions present unique challenges for accurate PA assessment.
- Understanding the psychometric properties of these devices in this specific population is crucial for clinical application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically evaluate the psychometric properties, specifically reliability and validity, of wearable devices used for measuring physical activity in ambulatory children with gait abnormalities.
- To synthesize existing evidence through meta-analysis to provide a quantitative summary of device performance.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus) in March 2023.
- Included studies focused on ambulatory children (2-19 years) with gait abnormalities, analyzing reliability and validity, and were peer-reviewed English full-text articles.
- Data extraction and quality assessment were performed by two independent researchers, followed by meta-analyses of reliability and validity coefficients.
Main Results:
- Twenty-six studies involving 1064 participants were included in the meta-analysis.
- Wearables demonstrated high to very high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.81) and inter-device reliability (ICC=0.99).
- Moderate to high validity was observed in standardized settings, including construct validity (r=0.63) and criterion validity (r=0.68, r=0.69 for cutoff points). Methodological quality was moderate.
Conclusions:
- Wearable devices exhibit strong reliability and acceptable validity for assessing physical activity in children with abnormal gaits, often stemming from neurological conditions.
- These findings support the potential utility of wearables in this population, but clinicians must be cognizant of potential moderating factors influencing measurement accuracy.
- Further research may be needed to refine device use and interpretation in diverse clinical contexts.
Objective:
To evaluate psychometrics of wearable devices measuring physical activity (PA) in ambulant children with gait abnormalities due to neuromuscular conditions.
Data Sources:
We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus in March 2023.
Study Selection:
We included studies if (1) participants were ambulatory children (2-19y) with gait abnormalities, (2) reliability and validity were analyzed, and (3) peer-reviewed studies in the English language and full-text were available. We excluded studies of children with primarily visual conditions, behavioral diagnoses, or primarily cognitive disability. We performed independent screening and inclusion, data extraction, assessment of the data, and grading of results with 2 researchers.
Data Extraction:
Our report follows Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We assessed methodological quality with Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health measurement instruments. We extracted data on reported reliability, measurement error, and validity. We performed meta-analyses for reliability and validity coefficient values.
Data Synthesis:
Of 6911 studies, we included 26 with 1064 participants for meta-analysis. Results showed that wearables measuring PA in children with abnormal gait have high to very high reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]+, test-retest reliability=0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.74-0.89; I 2=88.57%; ICC+, interdevice reliability=0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99; I 2=71.01%) and moderate to high validity in a standardized setting (r +, construct validity=0.63; 95% CI, 0.36-0.89; I 2=99.97%; r +, criterion validity=0.68; 95% CI, 0.57-0.79; I 2=98.70%; r +, criterion validity cutoff point based=0.69; 95% CI, 0.58-0.80; I 2=87.02%). The methodological quality of all studies included in the meta-analysis was moderate.
Conclusions:
There was high to very high reliability and moderate to high validity for wearables measuring PA in children with abnormal gait, primarily due to neurological conditions. Clinicians should be aware that several moderating factors can influence an assessment.
