Background

Determining adherence with orthoses is important for clinicians prescribing devices. Measuring orthotic use often relies on patient recall which has poor agreement with objective measures. Measuring step count whilst wearing an orthosis could help objectively quantifying adherence. The Odstock Drop Foot Stimulator (ODFS) Pace, used in foot drop, has an integral activity logger which provides data on step count. The PALite, an accelerometer, measures step count and can be fixed to an ankle foot orthoses (AFO). Both have the potential to provide objective measures of adherence; however, their validity for this purpose has not been determined.

Research question

To determine the validity of the PALite and ODFS Pace activity logger in measuring total step count, by exploring their level of agreement.

Methods

A convenience sample of sixteen healthy volunteers, aged 18–65, were recruited from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). Participants walked continuously for 5 min on a treadmill at three walking speeds; normal (1.3ms⁻¹), slow (0.4 ms⁻¹) and fast (1.7-2.0 ms⁻¹), wearing both the PALite and ODFS Pace. All walks were video recorded, viewed by 2 raters, and observed step count was determined by a click counter. Step count from both devices was validated against observed step count using video recording. The level of agreement between the three methods was established.

Results

There was no significant difference between the 3 methods of measuring step count at any walking speed (normal, p = 0.913; slow, p = 0.938; fast, p = 0.566). Good levels of agreement for both devices with observed step count at all 3 walking speeds, with mean percentage differences being between −1.2 and 2.1 % (maximum upper and lower levels of agreement = 19.5 and −18.8 %) was detected.

Significance

Clinicians could consider both devices to objectively measure step count with people who are prescribed foot drop orthoses, thus quantifying orthotic use.

中文翻译：

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确定用于测量健康成年人步数的PALite和ODFS PACE活动记录仪的有效性。

背景

确定对矫形器的依从性对临床医生开具处方很重要。矫形器使用量的测量通常依赖于患者的召回率，这与客观措施之间的一致性差。在佩戴矫形器的同时测量步数可以帮助客观地量化依从性。用于落脚的Odstock落脚刺激器（ODFS）步速具有集成的活动记录器，可提供步数数据。加速度计PALite可测量步数，并可固定到踝足矫形器（AFO）。两者都有可能提供客观的遵守措施；但是，尚未确定其在此目的上的有效性。

研究问题

通过探索协议级别来确定PALite和ODFS Pace活动记录器在测量总步数时的有效性。

方法

从格拉斯哥卡利多尼亚大学（GCU）招募了16名年龄在18-65岁之间的健康志愿者的便利样本。参与者以三种步行速度在跑步机上连续行走5分钟；正常（1.3ms ^-1），慢速（0.4 ms ^-1）和快速（1.7-2.0 ms ^-1），同时穿着PALite和ODFS Pace。所有步行都进行了视频记录，由2个评分者查看，观察的步数由点击计数器确定。使用视频记录对照观察到的步数验证了两个设备的步数。建立了这三种方法之间的一致性级别。

结果

在任何步行速度下，三种测量步数的方法之间都没有显着差异（正常，p = 0.913；慢，p = 0.938；快，p = 0.566）。两种设备在所有3种步行速度下均具有良好的步调计数，且步伐计数均良好，平均百分差在-1.2至2.1％之间（最大上下一致水平= 19.5至-18.8％）。

意义

临床医生可以考虑使用这两种设备来客观地测量处方脚踏矫形器患者的步数，从而量化矫形器的使用。