Reliability of Wearable Sensors for Assessing Gait and Chair Stand Function at Home in People With Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective To assess the reliability of wearable sensors for at‐home assessment of walking and chair stand activities in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Baseline data from participants with knee OA (n = 20) enrolled in a clinical trial of an exercise intervention were used. Participants completed an in‐person laboratory visit and a video conference–enabled at‐home visit. In both visits, participants performed walking and chair stand tasks while fitted with 3 inertial sensors. During the at‐home visit, participants self‐donned the sensors and completed 2 sets of acquisitions separated by a 15‐minute break, when they removed and redonned the sensors. Participants completed a survey on their experience with the at‐home visit. During the laboratory visit, researchers placed the sensors on the participants. Spatiotemporal metrics of walking gait and chair stand duration were extracted from the sensor data. We used intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the Bland‐Altman plot for statistical analyses. Results For test–retest reliability during the at‐home visit, all ICCs were good to excellent (0.85–0.95). For agreement between at‐home and laboratory visits, ICCs were moderate to good (0.59–0.87). Systematic differences were noted between at‐home and laboratory data due to faster task speed during the laboratory visits. Participants reported a favorable experience during the at‐home visit. Conclusion Our method of estimating spatiotemporal gait measures and chair stand duration function remotely was reliable, feasible, and acceptable in people with knee OA. Wearable sensors could be used to remotely assess walking and chair stand in participant's natural environments in future studies.