Catalyst Awardee

Project Description

Assessment of Fine Motor Skills for Cognitively Impaired Older Adults with Dynamic Motion Capture

Jing Li, MMed; Ji Shen, MD; Jie Zhang, MS; Ruolin Liu, MD; Rui Liu, MS; Jielin Yang | Peking Union Medical College
Competition Sponsor: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Award year: 2021

In 2017, the World Health Organization proposed that the geriatric model of care should transform from treating diseases to maintaining body functions. These functions are divided into five domains, in which the loss of cognitive and physical function is the most critical issue and requires intensive attention and care. The impairments on these functions have caused a tremendous socioeconomic burden, but specific healthcare resources are scarce. Global consensus on the management of cognitive impairment has been emphasizing the importance of taking proactive measures to delay and even prevent cognitive decline in its early stage. Since the mastery of fine motor skills marks a phase of maturity in child development, it is expected that gradual changes in such a skill, which supports advanced quality of life needs, will have already taken place correspondingly. Previous studies have observed the decline of basic manual dexterity in patients with dementia. Therefore, we aim to further characterize fine motor skills manifested in hand-brain coordination tasks in older adults with different levels of cognitive functions. We will employ the MEMS inertial motion capture technology to execute real-time modeling and analysis of manual performance by formulating a set of digital assessment strategies and designing an interactive system as the testing environment. A cross-sectional study will be conducted, and we will evaluate the effectiveness of our assessment strategy and perform modifications contingent upon study results. Our findings will facilitate implementing an accessible resource to proactively manage older adults’ cognitive and physical functions in primary care facilities.

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