APPLICATIONS

Profiling free-living physical activity has many applications in the professional healthcare arena.

The most obvious is due to the relationship between physical activity and well-being. Physical inactivity is highly correlated with morbidity. Many clinical interventions have as a primary or secondary outcome the increase in physical activity of the patient. For example, a hip-replacement is often performed to relieve pain but the pain-free result of a successful operation allows the patient to return to pre-morbid levels of activity. In neurological rehabilitation, for example with stroke patients, the aim is to maximise the functional recovery of the patient, which can be measured in terms of an increase in physical activity. Our technology can reliably record these changes in activity level and present the outcomes in an easily understood format.

Other benefits relate specifically to the risk of cardiovascular disease and related conditions. Both obesity and physical inactivity are recognised as major modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease. Over-nutrition and physical inactivity result in a net energy gain and consequent weight gain. Our technology accurately records the primary physical activities of sitting, standing and stepping providing the clinician with an objective record of a patient's compliance with an activity program allowing the treatment efficacy to be reviewed and acting as a motivational record of activity targets achieved.

Another application of the technology is in the assessment of moderate physical activity. Regular physical activity is believed to confer wide-ranging health benefits including decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and adult-onset (Type II) diabetes. Traditionally, these health benefits have been associated with frequent bouts of vigorous exercise but recent research has shown that these benefits, along with reductions in blood pressure, blood lipid profile and some cancers, can be achieved at moderate exercise intensities. In light of these findings public health authorities are advocating higher levels of moderate activity in the general population.

In the USA the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend that every person have at least 30 minutes per day of moderate intensity exercise on most days of the week. Also, they recommend that this activity need not be performed at one time but could be built up in 10-minute blocks through the day.

Our technology is capable of recording and identifying periods of moderate physical activity (brisk walking) throughout the day and providing cumulative totals of these periods allowing the treatment compliance to be reviewed and acting as a motivational record of activity targets achieved.