Development and validation of a robotic multifactorial fall-risk predictive model: A one-year prospective study in community-dwelling older adults.

Journal: PloS one
Published Date:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Falls in the elderly are a major public health concern because of their high incidence, the involvement of many risk factors, the considerable post-fall morbidity and mortality, and the health-related and social costs. Given that many falls are preventable, the early identification of older adults at risk of falling is crucial in order to develop tailored interventions to prevent such falls. To date, however, the fall-risk assessment tools currently used in the elderly have not shown sufficiently high predictive validity to distinguish between subjects at high and low fall risk. Consequently, predicting the risk of falling remains an unsolved issue in geriatric medicine. This one-year prospective study aims to develop and validate, by means of a cross-validation method, a multifactorial fall-risk model based on clinical and robotic parameters in older adults.

Authors

  • Alberto Cella
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Alice De Luca
  • Valentina Squeri
    Motor Learning and Robotic Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy.
  • Sara Parodi
    Movendo Technology Srl, Genova, Italy.
  • Francesco Vallone
  • Angela Giorgeschi
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Barbara Senesi
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Ekaterini Zigoura
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Katerin Leslie Quispe Guerrero
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Giacomo Siri
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, EO Galliera Hospital, Genova, Italy.
  • Lorenzo De Michieli
    Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genova, Italy.
  • Jody Saglia
  • Carlo Sanfilippo
  • Alberto Pilotto
    Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, Frailty Area, E.O. Galliera Hospital, National Relevance & High Specialization Hospital, Genoa, Italy.