"Physical activity is determined by education level and income"

 

Éder Peña is part of the Gerontology and Geriatrics research group at the Universidad de Caldas (Colombia). In May he visited the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) to establish cooperation channels with the UOC’s eHealth Center. In Manizales, capital of the Department of Caldas, Peña and the team of engineers in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia’s Adaptive Smart Environments research group work to design electronic devices that assist health professionals in assessing the functional ability of the elderly.

 

 

Éder Peña is part of the Gerontology and Geriatrics research group at the Universidad de Caldas (Colombia). In May he visited the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) to establish cooperation channels with the UOC’s eHealth Center. In Manizales, capital of the Department of Caldas, Peña and the team of engineers in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia’s Adaptive Smart Environments research group work to design electronic devices that assist health professionals in assessing the functional ability of the elderly.

 

We work on research into different lines of clinical geriatrics: elderly people’s mobility problems, their functional ability and physical activity… We encourage interdisciplinary work and share the results with the scientific community and those interested. We’ve seen that the more physically active you are, the greater the life expectancy, autonomy and independence enjoyed. Physical activity depends on a person’s habits, so keeping active and functional is very important. As people grow older, they do fewer daily activities and run the risk of being more prone to falling, developing noncommunicable chronic diseases and restricting their mobility to home and neighbourhood. Physical activity is determined by education level and income. The higher the education level and income, the greater the physical activity. Another factor is the structure of the city, such as the public transport network and environmental characteristics. It is important for public institutions to identify access barriers that limit elderly people’s mobility in the city. Overprotection diminishes the elderly person’s independence. It is important for the doctor or geriatric specialist to explain the elderly person’s abilities and identify which ones need to be improved. We have to identify the risk factors, the barriers to mobility at home and in the city, and the kind of help each elderly person needs. The aim of these devices ‒ called E-SPPB ‒ is to help the health professional assess the functional ability of the elderly person. Their design is based on the SPPB (Short Physical Performance Battery) questionnaire. They measure balance, gait speed, chair stand and functional reach. There are four different devices that include a camera, a pressure sensor platform and a handle. All four enable rigorous assessment of each physical performance measure. We work with a multidisciplinary team of medical professionals, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physical educators and electronic engineers.

Today, assessment of physical performance measures is done manually with the SPPB questionnaire. With our electronic devices, the information is recorded digitally: the data is sent to a server and is later available on a platform to which the doctor and patient or carer have access. The objective is to analyse the data and draw conclusions that can be useful in public health. Our project is funded by Colciencias, a Colombian public organization that promotes science, technology and innovation projects.