Walking on common ground: a cross-disciplinary scoping review on the clinical utility of digital mobility outcomes
Ashley Polhemus, Laura Delgado‐Ortiz, Gavin Brittain, Nikolaos Chynkiamis, Francesca Salis, Heiko Gaßner, Michaela Groß, Cameron Kirk, R. Rossanigo, Kristin Taraldsen, Diletta Balta, Sofie Breuls, Sara Buttery, Gabriela Cárdenas-Fuentes, Christoph Endress, Julia Gugenhan, Alison Keogh, Felix Kluge, Sarah Koch, M. Encarna Micó-Amigo, Corinna Nerz, Chloé Sieber, Parris Williams, Ronny Bergquist, Magda Bosch de Basea, Ellen Buckley, Clint Hansen, A. Stefanie Mikolaizak, Lars Schwickert, Kirsty Scott, Sabine Stallforth, Janet van Uem, Beatrix Vereijken, Andrea Cereatti, Heleen Demeyer, Nicholas S Hopkinson, Walter Maetzler, Thierry Troosters, Ioannis Vogiatzis, Alison J. Yarnall, Clemens Becker, Judith García‐Aymerich, Letizia Leocani, Claudia Mazzà, Lynn Rochester, Basil Sharrack, Anja Frei, Milo A. Puhan, Mobilise-D
Abstract
Physical mobility is essential to health, and patients often rate it as a high-priority clinical outcome. Digital mobility outcomes (DMOs), such as real-world gait speed or step count, show promise as clinical measures in many medical conditions. However, current research is nascent and fragmented by discipline. This scoping review maps existing evidence on the clinical utility of DMOs, identifying commonalities across traditional disciplinary divides. In November 2019, 11 databases were searched for records investigating the validity and responsiveness of 34 DMOs in four diverse medical conditions (Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hip fracture). Searches yielded 19,672 unique records. After screening, 855 records representing 775 studies were included and charted in systematic maps. Studies frequently investigated gait speed (70.4% of studies), step length (30.7%), cadence (21.4%), and daily step count (20.7%). They studied differences between healthy and pathological gait (36.4%), associations between DMOs and clinical measures (48.8%) or outcomes (4.3%), and responsiveness to interventions (26.8%). Gait speed, step length, cadence, step time and step count exhibited consistent evidence of validity and responsiveness in multiple conditions, although the evidence was inconsistent or lacking for other DMOs. If DMOs are to be adopted as mainstream tools, further work is needed to establish their predictive validity, responsiveness, and ecological validity. Cross-disciplinary efforts to align methodology and validate DMOs may facilitate their adoption into clinical practice.