Rodrigo Torres Castro, MSc | Universidad de Chile; Edgardo Opazo, MSc; Lilian Solis, MSc; Luis Vasconcello-Castillo; Alfonsina Puppo
Competition Sponsor: Chile Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo
Awardee Year: 2023
We will conduct a prospective cross-sectional study in 10 healthy older adults. To do this, a multidisciplinary team of physical therapists, pulmonologists, sports science experts, and urban planners will identify public spaces following the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the Healthy Cities movement. In each space, we will measure all the urban elements of intensity (stairs, ramps and types of pavement). In parallel, we will develop an “ad hoc” scoring table to classify the intensity of each urban element based on the energy expenditure requirements for the physical activities that each urban element demanded, namely walking on flat terrain, going up and down stairs/slopes. Finally, we will design three intensity trails (low, moderate and high) in each public space, combining the urban elements previously scored.
We will measure the total energy expenditure of different trails. Ten healthy older adults will walk through the three designed circuits to do this. While they do so, we will measure oxygen consumption and fatigue in the lower extremities. With the information obtained, we will design an application with these routes to help the community use these scientifically validated circuits. This application will monitor the completion of each route based on the geolocation and motion sensors available on current smartphones.