Analysis of Older Adults in Spanish Care Facilities, Risk of Falling and Daily Activity Using Xiaomi Mi Band 2

Background: Presently the use of technological devices such as wearable devices has emerged. Physical activity monitoring with wearable sensors is an easy and non-intrusive approach to encourage preventive care for older adults. It may be useful to follow a continuous assessment of the risk of falling. The objective is to explore the relationship between the daily activity measured by Xiaomi Mi Band 2 and the risk of falling of older adults residing in or attending care facilities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on three different institutions located in Galicia (autonomous community) (Spain). Results: A total of 31 older adults were included in the study, with a mean age of 84 ± 8.71 years old. The main findings obtained were that a greater number of steps and distance could be related to a lower probability of falling, of dependency in basic activities of daily living, or of mobility problems. Conclusions: The importance of focusing on daily steps, intrinsically related to the objective assessment of daily physical activity, is that it is a modifiable factor that impacts different aspects of health and quality of life.

Keywords: daily steps; falls; health-related quality of life; nursing home; occupational therapy; physical activity; remote monitoring; sleep; wearable technology; wristband.

The research team will bear all the economic costs involved in the study, with the support of the CITIC, as Research Center accredited by Galician University System that is funded by “Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Universidades from Xunta de Galicia,” which provided 80% of funds through ERDF Funds, ERDF Operational Programme Galicia 2014-2020, and the remaining 20% was provided by “Secretaría Xeral de Universidades [Grant ED431G 2019/01]. Moreover, Patricia Concheiro-Moscoso obtained a scholarship [Ref.ED481A-2019/069] and María del Carmen Miranda-Duro [Ref.ED481A 2018/205] gained a scholarship to develop a Ph.D.