Progressing to Objective Measures of Daily Mobility in Hospitalized Older Adults

Accurate mobility assessment of hospitalized older adults is necessary to aid nurses in planning and providing appropriate mobility support; however, nurses cite lack of resources and time limitations as barriers. Accelerometry enables a detailed objective measurement of predominant hospital mobility activities in the older adult population, such as percent time sitting, and the sit-to-stand (STS) transition. The current exploratory study examined the use of a novel, unobtrusive accelerometry technique to obtain postural and STS metrics on 27 older adults during their hospital stay. Total device wear time in the hospital was 96.2%. Participants spent 60.3% time lying, 20.3% time sitting, 5.3% time standing, and 2% time stepping during hospitalization, and, on average, completed the STS transition 20 times (SD = 13) per 24-hour period. There were no participant complaints about wearing the device. Our exploratory study shows accelerometry provides automated, continuous data and may support accurate nursing assessment of patient mobility.