MONITORING SARCOPENIA WITH WEARABLE DEVICE: FINDINGS FROM THE PRO-EVA STUDY
Wearable. Physical Activity. Sarcopenia. Older Adults.
Introduction: Wearable technologies have been widely used in the context of monitoring chronic health conditions. However, its applicability in monitoring sarcopenia is still a gap in the literature. Objective: Investigate how wearable devices can help monitor sarcopenia. Methods: This thesis is composed of three studies: Article 1 – This is a Systematic Review (RS) protocol, whose design seeks to support the identification of studies that suggest how wearable devices have been used to monitor sarcopenia, identify which parameters of physical performance are best used to monitor sarcopenia and which sensors and body location have been used. Article 2 – RS study, conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), which included observational studies that used wearable devices to monitor sarcopenia, searched in the databases PubMed, CINHAL, Embase, Web of Science and SciELO. Article 3 – Observational and methodological study developed with community-dwelling elderly people, who were assessed for the presence of probable sarcopenia and the level of Physical Activity (PA) using a smartwatch-type wearable device, with the aim of establishing points of reference cutoff to discriminate probable sarcopenia, using the ROC Curve (Receiver Operating Characteristic). Results: Articles 1 and 2: The RS study included 6 studies, whose summary of results suggests that PA intensity, measured using triaxial accelerometers, is the most commonly used parameter, demonstrating an association between PA level and sarcopenia. The body segments to position the sensors with the greatest potential to be explored are the hip and wrist. Article 3: 169 elderly people were evaluated, of which 69 had probable sarcopenia, with an average of 75.8 ±56.2 active minutes involved in light PA per week and an average of 80.8 ±56.9 minutes involved in moderate PA per week. The best accuracy cutoff points were 109 minutes (AUC: 61%) for mild AF; 56 minutes (AUC: 65%) for moderate PA; 8,417 (AUC: 67%) for number of steps per day; 2,707 (AUC: 65%) for calories; and 5,439 meters for distance traveled per day. Conclusions: The RS suggests that measuring the level of PA and mobility using triaxial accelerometers shows promise in monitoring the physical performance of individuals with probable sarcopenia. Furthermore, it contributes to the understanding of how PA and mobility measures can be explored in the context of monitoring and presents recommendations for new research in the area. Article 3 demonstrates that the PA construct, assessed by a wearable device, is a good classifier for discriminating probable sarcopenia. In this way, technology can be seen as a viable tool that can contribute to the monitoring of sarcopenia, allowing identification and planning of early interventions.