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Home‐Based Monitoring of Falls Using Wearable Sensors in Parkinson's Disease
Author(s) -
Silva de Lima Ana Lígia,
Smits Tine,
Darweesh Sirwan K. L.,
Valenti Giulio,
Milosevic Mladen,
Pijl Marten,
Baldus Heribert,
Vries Nienke M,
Meinders Marjan J.,
Bloem Bastiaan R.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
movement disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.352
H-Index - 198
eISSN - 1531-8257
pISSN - 0885-3185
DOI - 10.1002/mds.27830
Subject(s) - hazard ratio , medicine , incidence (geometry) , falling (accident) , confidence interval , cumulative incidence , rate ratio , physical therapy , psychiatry , cohort , physics , optics
Falling is among the most serious clinical problems in Parkinson's disease (PD). We used body‐worn sensors (falls detector worn as a necklace) to quantify the hazard ratio of falls in PD patients in real life. Methods We matched all 2063 elderly individuals with self‐reported PD to 2063 elderly individuals without PD based on age, gender, comorbidity, and living conditions. We analyzed fall events collected at home via a wearable sensor. Fall events were collected either automatically using the wearable falls detector or were registered by a button push on the same device. We extracted fall events from a 2.5‐year window, with an average follow‐up of 1.1 years. All falls included were confirmed immediately by a subsequent telephone call. The outcomes evaluated were (1) incidence rate of any fall, (2) incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio), and (3) 1‐year cumulative incidence of falling. Results The incidence rate of any fall was higher among self‐reported PD patients than controls (2.1 vs. 0.7 falls/person, respectively; P < .0001). The incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio) was 1.8 times higher for self‐reported PD patients than controls (95% confidence interval, 1.6–2.0). Conclusion Having PD nearly doubles the incidence of falling in real life. These findings highlight PD as a prime “falling disease.” The results also point to the feasibility of using body‐worn sensors to monitor falls in daily life. © 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.