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[EN] Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder leading to functional impairment. In order to monitor the progression of the disease and to implement individualized therapeutic approaches, functional assessments are paramount. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of PD on balance, gait, turn-to-sit and sit-to-stand by means of a single short-duration reliable test using a single inertial measurement unit embedded in a smartphone device. Study participants included 29 individuals with mild-to moderate PD (PG) and 31 age-matched healthy counterparts (CG). Functional assessment with FallSkip((R)) included postural control (i.e., Medial-Lateral (ML) and Anterior-Posterior (AP) displacements), gait (Vertical (V) and Medial-Lateral (ML) ranges), turn-to-sit (time) and sit-to-stand (power) tests, total time and gait reaction time. Our results disclosed a reliable procedure (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.58-0.92). PG displayed significantly larger ML and AP displacements during the postural test, a decrease in ML range while walking and a longer time needed to perform the turn-to-sit task than CG (p < 0.05). No differences between groups were found for V range, sit-to-stand test, total time and reaction time (p > 0.05). In conclusion, people with mild-to-moderate PD exhibit impaired postural control, altered gait strategy and slower turn-to-sit performance than age-matched healthy people.

[ES] El Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) está poniendo a punto un innovador servicio de valoración funcional biomecánica y monitorización de la actividad diaria que permitirá conocer la evolución en el tiempo de pacientes con prótesis de rodilla. Este servicio ayudará a empresas fabricantes de producto sanitario a disponer de información clínica objetiva y relevante sobre el funcionamiento de sus productos, reforzando sus sistemas de vigilancia poscomercialización. Además, este servicio beneficiará a los centros hospitalarios permtiéndoles medir de forma objetiva la efectividad de sus intervenciones y tratamientos rehabilitadores, contribuyendo así a mejorar la gestión y aprovechamiento de sus recursos.

[EN] Background Understanding the functional status of people with Alzheimer Disease (AD), both in a single (ST) and cognitive dual task (DT) activities is essential for identifying signs of early-stage neurodegeneration. This study aims to compare the performance quality of several tasks using sensors embedded in an Android device, among people at different stages of Alzheimer and people without dementia. The secondary aim is to analyze the effect of cognitive task performance on mobility tasks. Methods This is a cross-sectional study including 22 participants in the control group (CG), 18 in the group with mild AD and 22 in the group with moderate AD. They performed two mobility tests, under ST and DT conditions, which were registered using an Android device. Postural control was measured by medial-lateral and anterior-posterior displacements of the COM (MLDisp and APDisp, respectively) and gait, with the vertical and medial-lateral range of the COM (Vrange and MLrange). Further, the sit-to-stand (PStand) and turning and sit power (PTurnSit), the total time required to complete the test and the reaction time were measured. Results There were no differences between the two AD stages either for ST or DT in any of the variables (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, people at both stages showed significantly lower values of PStand and PTurnSit and larger Total time and Reaction time compared to CG (p < 0.05). Further, Vrange is also lower in CDR1G than in CG (p < 0.05). The DT had a significant deleterious effect on MLDisp in all groups (p < 0.05) and on APDisp only in moderate AD for DT. Conclusions Our findings indicate that AD patients present impairments in some key functional abilities, such as gait, turning and sitting, sit to stand, and reaction time, both in mild and moderate AD. Nevertheless, an exclusively cognitive task only influences the postural control in people with AD.

[ES] Las caídas son actualmente uno de los problemas de salud más frecuentes y graves en las personas mayores. La gestión sociosanitaria eficiente desde el punto de vista preventivo se destaca como uno de los objetivos principales para afrontar esta problemática. Para dar respuesta a ello, el IBV y el Hospital Universitario de la Ribera, gestionado por Ribera Salud II UTE Ley 18/82, llevan a cabo de forma conjunta una línea de investigación para desarrollar y validar nuevos avances tecnológicos. El proyecto que se presenta a continuación ha servido para conocer la aplicabilidad y utilidad de la herramienta FallSkip en el contexto de la consulta del médico de Atención Primaria. Se han valorado, entre otros aspectos, el tiempo y la facilidad de uso, así como la utilidad de la información proporcionada en la evaluación del riesgo de caídas respecto a los métodos convencionales basados en cuestionarios y escalas clínicas.