Life-space is a promising method for estimating older adults' functional status. However, traditional life-space measures are costly and time consuming because they often rely on active subject participation. This study assesses the feasibility of using the global positioning system (GPS) function of smart phones to generate life-space indicators. We first evaluated the location accuracy of smart phone collected GPS points versus those acquired by a commercial GPS unit. We then assessed the specificity of the smart phone processed life-space information against the traditional diary method. Our results suggested comparable location accuracy between the smart phone and the standard GPS unit in most outdoor situations. In addition, the smart phone method revealed more comprehensive life-space information than the diary method, which leads to higher and more consistent life-space scores. We conclude that the smart phone method is more reliable than traditional methods for measuring life-space. Further improvements will be required to develop a robust application of this method that is suitable for health-related practices.

中文翻译：

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评估智能手机以生成生活空间指示器。

生活空间是一种估计老年人功能状态的有前途的方法。但是，传统的生命空间测量方法既昂贵又费时，因为它们通常依赖于主体的积极参与。这项研究评估了使用智能手机的全球定位系统（GPS）功能生成生活空间指标的可行性。我们首先评估了智能手机收集的GPS点相对于商用GPS单元获取的GPS点的位置精度。然后，我们根据传统日记方法评估了智能手机处理的生活空间信息的特异性。我们的结果表明，在大多数户外情况下，智能手机和标准GPS装置之间的定位精度相当。此外，智能手机方法比日记方法显示的生活空间信息更全面，从而导致生活空间得分更高，更一致。我们得出结论，智能电话方法比传统方法更可靠地测量生活空间。开发适用于健康相关实践的这种方法的强大应用将需要进一步的改进。