Wearable and Portable GPS Solutions for Monitoring Mobility in Dementia: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Dementia is the most common neurodegenerative disorder globally. Disease progression is marked by declining cognitive function accompanied by changes in mobility. Increased sedentary behaviour and, conversely, wandering and becoming lost are common. Global positioning system (GPS) solutions are increasingly used by caregivers to locate missing people with dementia (PwD) but also offer a non-invasive means of monitoring mobility patterns in PwD. We performed a systematic search across five databases to identify papers published since 2000, where wearable or portable GPS was used to monitor mobility in patients with common dementias or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Disease and GPS-specific vocabulary were searched singly, and then in combination, identifying 3004 papers. Following deduplication, we screened 1972 papers and retained 17 studies after a full-text review. Only 1/17 studies used a wrist-worn GPS solution, while all others were variously located on the patient. We characterised the studies using a conceptual framework, finding marked heterogeneity in the number and complexity of reported GPS-derived mobility outcomes. Duration was the most frequently reported category of mobility reported (15/17), followed by out of home (14/17), and stop and trajectory (both 10/17). Future research would benefit from greater standardisation and harmonisation of reporting which would enable GPS-derived measures of mobility to be incorporated more robustly into clinical trials.

Digital Health Technologies for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias: Initial Results from a Landscape Analysis and Community Collaborative Effort

“…Wearable sensors generally (32%), and smartwatches in particular (8%) were less represented in our landscape review than ambient technologies. Given their abundance and relative accessibility, wearable sensors can play an important role in the sensitive assessment of many ADRD-relevant measures, including mobility[51] (including but not limited to gait, life space pattern changes, and fall detection) and other biomarkers such as late-onset essential tremor[52] or heart rate variability[3]. However, the lower proportion of wearables to ambient technologies may be a reflection of the versatility and advantages of the latter for dementia populations.…”

Wearable with integrated piezoelectric energy harvester for geolocation of people with Alzheimer's

“…The first is the point of origin with its respective latitude and longitude that was obtained by clicking on a point on the map and the second parameter is the value in meters of the radius that is the maximum distance from the point of origin in which the patient is monitored. This system is often used to monitor in real-time and alert family members that the Alzheimer's patient has left a "safe zone" [20]. Then these data are sent to the wearable which performs the calculations of the limiting region to send an alert in case the patient has left the safe zone, for this the current position of the patient must first be captured (latitude and longitude in movement), then it is subtracted with the initial position, the difference module is found, this module is converted to meters by multiplying it by 111.2 Km/1 [21] to compare with the radius entered in the graphical interface.…”

The SI4CARE Project: Using Wearable Devices for Assisting People with Dementia in Calabria

“…The selection of wearable device has been performed considering all the wearable device actually in use in Italy and certified by the healtcare system [10,11]. Then from the available ones, the scientific committee of MoM has selected those presenting the possibility to easily export data and presenting as functionalities: the tracking of patients, the monitoring of heartbeat.…”