Daily Life Benefits and Usage Characteristics of Dynamic Arm Supports in Subjects with Neuromuscular Disorders
1
Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University, 6229ER Maastricht, The Netherlands
2
Department of Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713AV Groningen, The Netherlands
3
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713AV Groningen, The Netherlands
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2020, 20(17), 4864; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174864
Received: 30 June 2020
/
Revised: 24 August 2020
/
Accepted: 26 August 2020
/
Published: 28 August 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wearable Systems in Physical Rehabilitation: Opportunities and Challenges)
Neuromuscular disorders cause progressive muscular weakness, which limits upper extremity mobility and performance during activities of daily life. Dynamic arm supports can improve mobility and quality of life. However, their use is often discontinued over time for unclear reasons. This study aimed to evaluate whether users of dynamic arm supports demonstrate and perceive quantifiable mobility benefits over a period of two months. Nine users of dynamic arm supports were included in this observational study. They had different neuromuscular disorders and collectively used four different arm supports. They were observed for three consecutive weeks during which they were equipped with a multi-sensor network of accelerometers to assess the actual use of the arm support and they were asked to provide self-reports on the perceived benefits of the devices. Benefits were experienced mainly during anti-gravity activities and the measured use did not change over time. The self-reports provided contextual information in domains such as participation to social life, in addition to the sensor system. However self-reports overestimated the actual use by up to three-fold compared to the accelerometer measures. A combination of objective and subjective methods is recommended for meaningful and quantifiable mobility benefits during activities of daily life.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
neuromuscular disorders; dynamic arm support; activity monitoring; motor performance; upper extremities
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Essers, J.; Murgia, A.; Peters, A.; Meijer, K. Daily Life Benefits and Usage Characteristics of Dynamic Arm Supports in Subjects with Neuromuscular Disorders. Sensors 2020, 20, 4864. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174864
AMA Style
Essers J, Murgia A, Peters A, Meijer K. Daily Life Benefits and Usage Characteristics of Dynamic Arm Supports in Subjects with Neuromuscular Disorders. Sensors. 2020; 20(17):4864. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174864
Chicago/Turabian StyleEssers, Johannes, Alessio Murgia, Anneliek Peters, and Kenneth Meijer. 2020. "Daily Life Benefits and Usage Characteristics of Dynamic Arm Supports in Subjects with Neuromuscular Disorders" Sensors 20, no. 17: 4864. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174864
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
