An Experimental Study on the Validity and Reliability of a Smartphone Application to Acquire Temporal Variables during the Single Sit-to-Stand Test with Older Adults.

Smartphone sensors have often been proposed as pervasive measurement systems to assess mobility in older adults due to their ease of use and low-cost. This study analyzes a smartphone-based application's validity and reliability to quantify temporal variables during the single sit-to-stand test with institutionalized older adults. Forty older adults (20 women and 20 men; 78.9 ± 8.6 years) volunteered to participate in this study. All participants performed the single sit-to-stand test. Each sit-to-stand repetition was performed after an acoustic signal was emitted by the smartphone app. All data were acquired simultaneously with a smartphone and a digital video camera. The measured temporal variables were stand-up time and total time. The relative reliability and systematic bias inter-device were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. In contrast, absolute reliability was assessed using the standard error of measurement and coefficient of variation (CV). Inter-device concurrent validity was assessed through correlation analysis. The absolute percent error (APE) and the accuracy were also calculated. The results showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.92-0.97; CV = 1.85-3.03) and very strong relationships inter-devices for the stand-up time (r = 0.94) and the total time (r = 0.98). The APE was lower than 6%, and the accuracy was higher than 94%. Based on our data, the findings suggest that the smartphone application is valid and reliable to collect the stand-up time and total time during the single sit-to-stand test with older adults.

Comparing Sarcopenia Definitions and Muscle Power Reduction: Associations with Health Outcomes in Spanish Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objectives: To analyze the associations between the different operational definitions of sarcopenia published in the last decade and reduced muscle power with a set of adverse health-related outcomes, such as comorbidities, depression, polypharmacy, self-perceived health, educational attainment, socioeconomic status, falls, and hospitalizations in Spanish community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A total of 686 community-dwelling older adults (median age: 72; women: 59.2%; physically active: 84%) were included in this cross-sectional analysis (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05148351). Sarcopenia was assessed using the FNIH, EWGSOP2, AWGS, and SDOC algorithms. Reduced muscle power was defined as the lowest sex-specific tertile and measured during the rising phase of the sit-to-stand test using a validated mobile application. Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions by potential confounders were performed to identify the association between sarcopenia and reduced muscle power with health-related outcomes. Results: Sarcopenia prevalence was 3.4%, 3.8%, 12.4%, and 21.3% according to the SDOC, FNIH, EWGSOP2, and AWGS, respectively. Among these definitions, moderate and large associations with health-related outcomes were observed for EWGSOP2 and SDOC, respectively, but few associations were found for FNIH and AWGS criteria. Reduced muscle power was associated more frequently and moderately with health-related outcomes compared to sarcopenia definitions. These associations remained constant after adjusting for confounders. Conclusions: The prevalence and impact of sarcopenia varied depending on the definitions used. Among the sarcopenia definitions, the SDOC exhibited the strongest associations, while reduced muscle power was the variable most frequently associated with health-related outcomes compared to any of the four sarcopenia definitions in well-functioning and physically active community-dwelling older adults.

Dry Needling Alone or in Combination with Exercise Therapy versus Other Interventions for Reducing Pain and Disability in Subacromial Pain Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of dry needling alone or in combination with exercise therapy for reducing pain and disability in people with subacromial pain syndrome. Systematic searches of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were performed in five different databases. A meta-analysis was carried out with the data obtained, and the risk of bias and quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane ROB 2.0 and GRADE tools. Finally, five RCTs (n = 315) were included in the meta-analysis and qualitative analysis. Our results determine that dry needling alone or combined with exercise therapy showed improvements in pain in the short-term (5RCTs: SMD: -0.27; [-0.49, -0.05]; low-quality) and mid-term (4RCTs: SMD: -0.27; [-0.51, -0.04]; low-quality) compared to a range of interventions. However, no differences were shown for disability at short-term (3 RCTs: SMD: -0.97; [-2.04, 0.11]; very-low quality) and mid-term (3 RCTs: SMD: -0.85; [-1.74, 0.04]; very-low quality). Dry needling alone or in combination with exercise therapy may result in a slight reduction in pain in the short-term and mid-term. However, the evidence about the effect of this therapy on disability in the short- or mid-term is very uncertain compared to the range of interventions analyzed in this systematic review (Registration: INPLASY202260112).

Validity and reliability of an iPhone App to assess time, velocity and leg power during a sit-to-stand functional performance test.

The purposes of this study were: (i) Analyze the concurrent validity and reliability of an iPhone App for measuring time, velocity and power during a single sit-to-stand (STS) test compared with measurements recorded from a force plate; and (ii) Evaluate the relationship between the iPhone App measures with age and functional performance. Forty-eight healthy individuals (age range: 26-81 years) were recruited. All participants completed a STS test on a force plate with the movement recorded on an iPhone 6 at 240 frames-per-second. Functional ability was also measured using isometric handgrip strength and self-paced walking time tests. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson's correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha (α) and Bland-Altman plots with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to test validity and reliability between instruments. The results showed a good agreement between all STS measurement variables; time (ICC=0.864, 95%CI=0.77-0.92; α=0.926), velocity (ICC=0.912, 95%CI=0.85-0.95; α=0.953) and power (ICC=0.846, 95%CI=0.74-0.91; α=0.917) with no systematic bias between instruments for any variable analyzed. STS time, velocity and power derived from the iPhone App show moderate to strong associations with age (|r|=0.63-0.83) and handgrip strength (|r|=0.4-0.64) but not the walking test. The results of this study identify that this iPhone App is reliable for measuring STS and the derived values of time, velocity and power shows strong associations with age and handgrip strength.