Fall Detection in Elderly People: A Systematic Review of Ambient Assisted Living and Smart Home-Related Technology...

Fall detection systems in ambient assisted living (AAL) and smart homes are essential for the comfort, safety, and autonomy of elderly people. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of these systems considering categories of sensors and methods used. A systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Seven open databases were screened without a date limit: PubMed/MedLine, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Science.gov, Academia, IEEE Xplore, and Mendeley. The article selection and data extraction were performed by two authors independently. Among the 473 unique records, 80 studies were selected. Five fall detection performance parameters (accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, F1-score) and two computation speed parameters (training and testing time) were extracted and classified according to three sensor categories (wearable, non-wearable, and hybrid solutions), and four methods (deep learning, machine learning, threshold, and all others). The ANOVA results showed that wearable sensors performed the worst in fall detection. Deep learning methods produced the best results for the five parameters. Identifying the advantages of different solutions is a major challenge for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the design and implementation of more effective fall detection systems.