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Machine learning to quantify habitual physical activity in children with cerebral palsy
Author(s) -
Goodlich Benjamin I,
Armstrong Ellen L,
Horan Sean A,
Baque Emmah,
Carty Christopher P,
Ahmadi Matthew N,
Trost Stewart G
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.14560
Subject(s) - cerebral palsy , machine learning , gross motor function classification system , physical medicine and rehabilitation , random forest , wrist , support vector machine , artificial intelligence , accelerometer , physical therapy , medicine , computer science , radiology , operating system
Aim To investigate whether activity‐monitors and machine learning models could provide accurate information about physical activity performed by children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) who use mobility aids for ambulation. Method Eleven participants (mean age 11y [SD 3y]; six females, five males) classified in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels III and IV, completed six physical activity trials wearing a tri‐axial accelerometer on the wrist, hip, and thigh. Trials included supine rest, upper‐limb task, walking, wheelchair propulsion, and cycling. Three supervised learning algorithms (decision tree, support vector machine [SVM], random forest) were trained on features in the raw‐acceleration signal. Model‐performance was evaluated using leave‐one‐subject‐out cross‐validation accuracy. Results Cross‐validation accuracy for the single‐placement models ranged from 59% to 79%, with the best performance achieved by the random forest wrist model (79%). Combining features from two or more accelerometer placements significantly improved classification accuracy. The random forest wrist and hip model achieved an overall accuracy of 92%, while the SVM wrist, hip, and thigh model achieved an overall accuracy of 90%. Interpretation Models trained on features in the raw‐acceleration signal may provide accurate recognition of clinically relevant physical activity behaviours in children and adolescents with CP who use mobility aids for ambulation in a controlled setting. What this paper adds Machine learning may assist clinicians in evaluating the efficacy of surgical and therapy‐based interventions. Machine learning may help researchers better understand the short‐ and long‐term benefits of physical activity for children with more severe motor impairments.