Rehabilitation outcomes in older inpatients after hip fracture using instrumented shoes: pilot study

Wearable activity monitoring in clinical setting has shown promise in evaluating rehabilitation outcomes in elderly inpatients. In this study, patients aged>65 years admitted to post-acute care after hip fracture were monitored using an instrumented shoes system consisting of 3D accelerometer and gyroscope, and a pressure sensing insole. Activity data were collected over 8 hours at admission and 14 days later. Daily activity was profiled and gait parameters, load symmetry, and activity barcodes were obtained using dedicated algorithms. Among participants (4 men, 4 women), percent time sitting decreased whereas walking and standing increased, with significant increase of maximum locomotion period duration (p=0.028). Load symmetry and LZ complexity revealed significant improvements (p=0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). Complexity and load symmetry proved to be highly sensitive to functional improvements compared to classical activity metrics, even though all metrics evolved in the expected direction. These results demonstrate the suitability of instrumented shoes for rehabilitation monitoring.