Validation of the Short Physical Performance Battery via Plantar Pressure Analysis Using Commercial Smart Insoles

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2023-12, Vol.23 (24), p.9757
• Main Authors: Jang, Chan Woong, Park, Kyoungmin, Paek, Min-Chul, Jee, Sanghyun, Park, Jung Hyun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aged; Analysis; Batteries; foot orthoses; frailty; Gait; Geriatrics; Graphs; physical functional performance; Sensors; Walking
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23249757

This cross-sectional study, conducted at a tertiary care hospital's rehabilitation clinic, aimed to validate Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) results obtained through plantar pressure analysis using commercial smart insoles (SPPB-SI) and to compare these results to manually acquired results by an experienced examiner (SPPB-M). This study included 40 independent-walking inpatients and outpatients aged 50 or older. SPPB-SI and SPPB-M were administered concurrently, with the smart insoles providing plantar pressure data that were converted into time-pressure curves. Two interpreters assessed the curves, determining component completion times for the SPPB-SI scores. Among the 40 participants (mean age: 72.98, SD: 9.27), the mean total SPPB-SI score was 7.72 ± 2.50, and the mean total SPPB-M score was 7.95 ± 2.63. The time recordings and measured scores of each SPPB-SI component exhibited high reliability with inter- and intra-interpreter correlation coefficients of 0.9 and 0.8 or higher, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the total SPPB-SI and SPPB-M scores was 0.831 ( < 0.001), and that between the component scores of the two measurements ranged from 0.837 to 0.901 ( < 0.001). Consistent correlations with geriatric functional parameters were observed for both SPPB-SI and SPPB-M. This study underscores the potential of commercial smart insoles as reliable tools for conducting SPPB assessments.