Home Use of Wearable Accelerometers to Assess Ataxia

Using wearables in the home setting can capture motor impairment and progression in adult ataxias.

Home-based wearable sensors have the potential to track changes in disease state, by measuring submovements — the building blocks that make up a movement. In this study, the authors captured submovement characteristics by using wrist and ankle sensors worn for 1 week by 51 patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA 1, 2, 3, and 6), or multiple system atrophy (MSA-C) and 25 healthy controls for a cross-sectional analysis. Of the participants, 27 patients and 8 controls also underwent longitudinal follow-up within 1 year. The investigators used two models developed through machine learning to estimate ataxia rating scale scores and two amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) models developed to optimize the sensitivity to change.

The sensor data co…

Reviewing Author

Michael S. Okun, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America

Speaker’s BureauMedscape/WebMD CME, Movement Disorders Society CME, American Academy of Neurology CME

RoyaltiesBooks4Patients; Demos; Cambridge; Taylor and Francis; Robert Rose; Public Affairs

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; Parkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America; University of Florida Foundation

Editorial BoardsTremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements; JAMA Neurology

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesParkinson’s Foundation (Medical Advisor)