AMBULATORY MONITORING OF CHILDRENS ACTIVITY

One of the difficulties in clinical assessment is how to obtain accura te data in the 'real world'. This paper describes the Dynaport(R) ADL Monitor(R), an accelerometry-based system for ambulatory monitoring of the activities of daily living (ADL). In previous studies the monitor has proved a success with adults. To validate the system for. use wit h children 9 h of various activities conducted by nine children were m easured and videotaped at the same time. All postures and activities w ere divided into one of five main categories standing, sitting lying, locomotion and swing/seesaw. The video pictures were evaluated by an o bserver. Independent of this, the acceleration signals were translated by the DynaPort ADL monitor software, and were compared to the video pictures. Minimal and maximal validity percentages were calculated for each of the maim classes, for each individual measurement and overall . To estimate monitoring performance the 10 sets of measurements are r egarded as representative samples of children's daily activity. The ov erall minimal and maximal validity are 73.15 +/- 1.96 x 4.48 and 91.31 +/- 1.96 x 1.75 weighed standard deviation. (C) 1997 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.