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Continuous monitoring of upper-limb activity in a free-living environment: a validation study

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Abstract

Monitoring upper-limb activity in a free-living environment is important for the evaluation of rehabilitation. This study is a validation of the Strathclyde Upper-Limb Activity Monitor (SULAM) which records the vertical movement and position of each wrist, and assesses bimanual movement. Agreement between the SULAM and two independent video observers was assessed using interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and the Bland and Altman method. Concurrent validity was very good for movement of each upper-limb (ICC > 0.9), and good for the vertical position of the wrist (ICC > 0.8 for wrist positions below the shoulder, ICC > 0.6 otherwise). The ICC was good (>0.8) for bimanual movement, however the SULAM systematically underreported this by approximately 15%. The SULAM could be a useful tool to assess upper-limb activity of clinical populations in their usual environment.

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Notes

  1. Presented in the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBC 2003 [http://ieeexplore.ieee.org].

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Acknowledgments

The work for this study was conducted at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. The authors would like to thank Mr Ian Tullis for his technical help and CONACyT for their financial support of Arturo’s Ph.D. studies at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, 04510, Mexico

    A. Vega-Gonzalez

  2. School of Health and Social Care, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 0BA, UK

    B. J. Bain, P. M. Dall & M. H. Granat

Authors
  1. A. Vega-Gonzalez
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  2. B. J. Bain
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  3. P. M. Dall
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  4. M. H. Granat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. H. Granat.

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Vega-Gonzalez, A., Bain, B.J., Dall, P.M. et al. Continuous monitoring of upper-limb activity in a free-living environment: a validation study. Med Bio Eng Comput 45, 947–956 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-007-0233-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-007-0233-7

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