Remote monitoring and analysis of gait and falls within the elderly

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Remote monitoring and analysis of gait and falls within an elderly population

  • IRAS ID

    240445

  • Contact name

    Kalon Hewage

  • Contact email

    kalon.hewage@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    NCT03680014

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    39855, NIHR CPMS

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 6 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Hip fractures are the most common injury and the single biggest cause of accidental death in the older population. Each year there are over 64000 hip fractures nationally which accounts for 1.5 million bed days at a cost to the NHS of over £1billion. Hip fractures are associated with a 30% risk of mortality within the first year. 20% of patients will sadly lose the independence they once enjoyed. This problem is universal and it is estimated that 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 will have a fall each year leading to unquantifiable levels of anxiety and fear over simple day to day activities.

    With this research, we aim to identify measurable gait and balance parameters using remote monitoring hardware that can train a machine learning algorithm to predict an elderly subject’s risk of falling. The technology will allow the remote monitoring of vast numbers of patients in real time and allow for interventions to be put in place before a terminal event.
    We aim to do this initial pilot study as an observational prospective cohort study, evaluating elderly patients who have capacity in NHS rehabilitation and community hospitals. The patients will each be recorded doing simple activities of daily living in two 2 hour sessions using a discrete wireless device. This will generate anonymous data set that can be used to train and refine our machine learning algorithm.

  • REC name

    East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/EE/0013

  • Date of REC Opinion

    11 Mar 2019

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion