The primary objectives of this feasibility study are to provide insight into the usability, acceptability, technical functioning, and long-term added value of the system as experienced by elderly people and professionals. The secondary objective is…
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
Synonym
Health condition
kwetsbaarheid & beperkingen in het dagelijks leven
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
The primary outcomes of the feasibility study will be technical functioning,
acceptability and usability and added value of the monitoring system as
experienced by elderly people and professionals. Technical functioning will be
measured by recording the number of errors, technical failures, defects and
their causes in a logbook. Information regarding the acceptability and
usability and added value of the system will be collected during
semi-structured interviews with the researcher and in logbooks that the
physiotherapist will keep.
Secondary outcome
The study will provide insight into the development of parameters of physical
functioning over time. Measurements of weight, balance, grip strength, and
physical activity are collected for 6 months. These data will be compared to
information that was collected by the physiotherapist and a questionnaire
regarding health, functioning, quality of life, and care consumption. This will
provide more insight into how relevant changes in the physical functioning of
participants can be detected with the three devices.
Background summary
As society ages the prevalence of frailty and its adverse outcomes increases.
Disability is an adverse outcome of frailty that places a strain on frail
individuals and their caregivers. As a consequence, the demand for care and the
use of community services increases. Combined with a decreasing number of
caregivers this causes frailty to be a burden on health care systems.
Technological innovations can contribute to bridging the gap between demand and
supply of care in frail elderly people. During our research project, an
innovative system for monitoring physical frailty indicators (weight, balance,
grip strength, and physical activity) in community-dwelling older people was
developed. The system gives feedback to the user about (changes in) his/her
physical functioning and warns the user and/or care providers if a change in
the indicators occurs. A small scale pilot-study has already been conducted
with the monitoring and feedback system. The results from the pilot-study were
used to optimize the monitoring and feedback system.
Study objective
The primary objectives of this feasibility study are to provide insight into
the usability, acceptability, technical functioning, and long-term added value
of the system as experienced by elderly people and professionals. The secondary
objective is to gain more insight into how relevant changes in the physical
functioning of participants can be detected with the three devices.
Study design
The feasibility study will be a 12-month follow-up study with 50 elderly
participants who will be recruited via the expertise centre for elderly care of
the Orbis Medical Centre in Sittard. At baseline, the researcher will visit the
participants in their home to install the system and to explain how the devices
should be used. During the same visit, the participants will receive a
questionnaire containing questions regarding their health, functioning, quality
of life, and care consumption. After 1, 3 and 6 months, the researcher will
have a face-to-face semi-structured interview with the participants regarding
their experiences with the monitoring and feedback system in the past period.
The participants will use the monitoring and feedback system only during the
first 6 months of the study. After 6 and 12 months follow-up the participants
will be asked to complete the same questionnaire that was conducted at
baseline.
Intervention
The system consists of three devices that will be used daily by the
participants; a bathroom scale monitoring weight and balance, a Grip-ball
monitoring grip strength and a mobile phone with a built-in accelerometer
monitoring physical activity. The information about these physical indicators
is sent to the mobile phone via blue-tooth. The users will receive feedback
regarding their own physical functioning on the screen of the mobile phone
using text and/or spoken messages. The mobile phone also sends the information
to an online database that is accessible for the treating geriatrician from
Orbis Medical Centre. Besides that, the physiotherapist who is involved in the
study will also have access to the database. This physiotherapist will visit
the participants after they have used the three devices for 2 weeks, 2, 4, and
6, months. During the visits the physiotherapist will examine the physical
functioning of the participants. Besides that, the physiotherapist will discuss
the measurements that were performed with the three devices in the previous
weeks with the participant. Based on that, the physiotherapist and participant
will collaborate to set realistic and personally relevant goals that relate to
the improvement or maintenance of physical functioning. The physiotherapist
will support the participant in achieving these goals by providing tailored
advice. This advice in combination with the feedback that is provided via the
mobile phone will support the participants in the self management of their own
physical functioning.
Study burden and risks
The risk that is associated with participation is minimal because the current
level of physical functioning will be the starting point of the therapy that
participants receive from the physiotherapist. There is a small possibility
that participants will focus too much on the measures of their physical
functioning because they are asked to measure this daily during the study
whereas they do not do this in their normal lives. However, during the
pilot-study that was conducted earlier with the system, elderly participants
indicated that the daily feedback did not scare them at all.
The benefit that opposes the burden mentioned above is that participants get a
detailed insight into their own physical functioning. Because of this insight,
they receive care and advice from a physiotherapist that is tailored to their
own needs which might result in an improved physical functioning.
Duboisdomein 30
Maastricht 6229 GT
NL
Duboisdomein 30
Maastricht 6229 GT
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria are: 70 years or older, community-dwelling, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) > 23, movement/mobility/functioning problems, sufficient mastery of Dutch language, and able to step onto a bathroom scale independently.
Besides that, people have to answer *yes* to at least one of the following questions:
- Have you unintentionally lost a lot of weight in the past 6 months (5 kg or more)?
- Do you usually have the feeling that everything takes a lot of effort?
- Do you usually have the feeling that you cannot get going?
- When crossing the street at a traffic light, do you have difficulty reaching the other side before the light turns red?
- Do you have problems in your daily life due to low grip strength?
- Do you walk less than 2 hours a week/or cycle less than 1.5 hours a week?
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria are: planned admission to a nursing home/hospital during the period of the study, being confined to bed, serious visual or hearing impairments, contra-indication for exercise.
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
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Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL41986.096.12 |