City Research Online

Abstract

Background
Digital platforms and smartphone apps have the potential to help patients with musculoskeletal conditions receive targeted interventions and physiotherapy support at home. As musculoskeletal conditions are much more prevalent in older adults, it is important to determine whether these technologies are accessible and acceptable to this demographic, who may possess lower levels of digital literacy compared to younger adults.

Objective
The study aims to evaluate the feasibility and usability of completing functional assessments while recording the activity using smartphone inertial sensors in adults 60 years or older.

Methods
Participants (N=21) were recruited from a range of community settings to complete a 4-week home-based trial, recording unsupervised sit-to-stand and single-leg balance activities at least once per week using their smartphone. We analyzed the data quality and adherence by number of assessments per week from the uploaded datasets. Feedback on usability was assessed using interviews and the System Usability Score.

Results
Inductive content analysis was used to identify 5 top-level categories: app, device, task, time, and personal perception. The mean System Usability Scale score was 81.2 (SD 17.5). The proportion of valid data uploads was 63.8% (81/127) for single-leg balance and 93.5% (58/62) for sit-to-stand measures. Adherence was high, with no significant deviations in the mean number of sessions completed or duration between sessions.

Conclusions
Smartphone-based monitoring of functional activities can facilitate unsupervised, remote assessments, thus reducing burden on physiotherapy services and increasing the ability to monitor progress objectively. Activities should be considered for complexity and, where necessary, increase in difficulty over time. App-based feedback is essential to inform users of the progress and adherence to the activities.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© Christian Kempton, Kate Ryan, Sophie Clohessy, Peter Grinbergs, Mark T Elliott. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (https://rehab.jmir.org), 22.Sep.2025. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://rehab.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
Publisher Keywords:	physiotherapy, musculoskeletal, digital health, self-management, inertial sensors, smartphone, telerehabilitation
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine T Technology > T Technology (General)
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences School of Health & Medical Sciences > Department of Population Health & Policy > Food Policy
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads