Excellent reliability of the six-minute walking distance measured by FeetMe®insoles at home

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundWearable technology provides an opportunity for new ways of monitoring patient gait remotely, through at-home self-administered six-minute walk tests (6MWTs). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and repeatability of FeetMe®insoles, a wearable gait assessment device, for measuring the six-minute walking distance (6MWD) during tests conducted independently at home by healthy volunteers.MethodsParticipants (n=21) performed two 6MWTs at home while wearing the FeetMe®insoles, and two 6MWTs at hospital while wearing FeetMe®insoles and being assessed by a rater. All assessments were performed with a one-week interval between tests, no assistance was provided to the participants at home.Results and conclusionThe agreement between the 6MWD measurements made at baseline and at Week 1 was good for all test configurations and was highest for the at-home FeetMe®measurements, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.95, standard error of the measurement (SEM) of 15.02 m and coefficient of variation (CV) of 3.33%, compared to ICCs of 0.79 and 0.78, SEMs of 25.65 and 26.65 and CVs of 6.24% and 6.10% for the rater and FeetMe®measurements at hospital, respectively. Our work demonstrates that the FeetMe®system could provide a reliable solution allowing individuals to self-administer 6MWTs independently at home.Author SummaryAt-home patients monitoring using wearable tools presents numerous advantages for regular care and clinical studies. Patients benefit from the convenience of not having to travel to a clinic for assessments, which is particularly helpful for those in remote areas or with mobility issues. Besides, at-home monitoring allows for more frequent assessments, leading to more accurate clinical decision-making and timely intervention, which ultimately results in enhanced patient care. For the same reasons, it can improve patients recruitment and retention in clinical studies.The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is a commonly used standardized assessment of functional capacity in patients with various diseases. We evaluated the reliability and repeatability of FeetMe®insoles, a wearable gait assessment device, for measuring the six-minute walking distance (6MWD) at home. Our analysis of the data from 21 healthy volunteers showed that the FeetMe®insoles were as reliable at home as they were in the standard clinical setting and as a conventional way of assessing the 6MWD. In addition, the insoles provided extensive gait analysis, which may allow for more precise conclusions regarding the patient’s state and its evolution than the 6MWD alone. We conclude that the FeetMe®device is an excellent tool for at-home patients monitoring.