Globally the population of older adults is increasing. It is estimated that by 2050 the number of adults over the age of 60 will represent over 21% of the world’s population. Frailty is a clinical condition associated with ageing resulting in an increase in adverse outcomes. It is considered the greatest challenge facing an ageing population affecting an estimated 16% of community-dwelling populations worldwide. The aim of this systematic review is to explore how wearable sensors have been used to assess frailty in older adults. Electronic databases Medline, Science Direct, Scopus, and CINAHL were systematically searched March 2020 and November 2020. A search constraint of articles published in English, between January 2010 and November 2020 was applied. Papers included were primary observational studies involving; older adults aged > 60 years, used a wearable sensor to provide quantitative measurements of physical activity (PA) or mobility and a measure of frailty. Studies were excluded if they used non-wearable sensors for outcome measurement or outlined an algorithm or application development exclusively. The methodological quality of the selected studies was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-sectional Studies (AXIS). Twenty-nine studies examining the use of wearable sensors to assess and discriminate between stages of frailty in older adults were included. Thirteen different body-worn sensors were used in eight different body-locations. Participants were community-dwelling older adults. Studies were performed in home, laboratory or hospital settings. Postural transitions, number of steps, percentage of time in PA and intensity of PA together were the most frequently measured parameters followed closely by gait speed. All but one study demonstrated an association between PA and level of frailty. All reports of gait speed indicate correlation with frailty. Wearable sensors have been successfully used to evaluate frailty in older adults. Further research is needed to identify a feasible, user-friendly device and body-location that can be used to identify signs of pre-frailty in community-dwelling older adults. This would facilitate early identification and targeted intervention to reduce the burden of frailty in an ageing population.

中文翻译：

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如何利用可穿戴传感器来评估老年人的虚弱程度：系统评价

全球范围内，老年人口不断增加。据估计，到2050年，60岁以上的成年人数量将占世界人口的21%以上。虚弱是一种与衰老相关的临床病症，会导致不良后果增加。这被认为是人口老龄化所面临的最大挑战，影响了全球约 16% 的社区居住人口。本系统综述的目的是探讨如何使用可穿戴传感器来评估老年人的虚弱程度。2020 年 3 月和 2020 年 11 月对电子数据库 Medline、Science Direct、Scopus 和 CINAHL 进行了系统检索。对 2010 年 1 月至 2020 年 11 月期间以英文发表的文章进行了检索限制。纳入的论文是主要观察性研究，涉及：年龄 > 60 岁的老年人使用可穿戴传感器提供体力活动 (PA) 或活动能力的定量测量以及虚弱程度的测量。如果研究使用非可穿戴传感器进行结果测量或专门概述算法或应用程序开发，则被排除在外。使用横断面研究评估工具（AXIS）评估所选研究的方法学质量。其中包括 29 项研究，这些研究使用可穿戴传感器来评估和区分老年人的虚弱阶段。十三个不同的穿戴式传感器被用于八个不同的身体位置。参与者是居住在社区的老年人。研究是在家庭、实验室或医院环境中进行的。姿势转换、步数、PA 时间百分比和 PA 强度是最常测量的参数，紧随其后的是步态速度。除一项研究外，所有研究均证明 PA 与虚弱程度之间存在关联。所有关于步态速度的报告都表明与虚弱相关。可穿戴传感器已成功用于评估老年人的虚弱程度。需要进一步的研究来确定一种可行的、用户友好的设备和身体定位，可用于识别社区老年人的衰弱前迹象。这将有助于早期识别和有针对性的干预，以减轻人口老龄化带来的虚弱负担。