Can We Rely on Mobile Devices and Other Gadgets to Assess the Postural Balance of Healthy Individuals? A Systematic Review

Abstract

The consequences of falls, costs, and complexity of conventional evaluation protocols have motivated researchers to develop more effective balance assessments tools. Healthcare practitioners are incorporating the use of mobile phones and other gadgets (smartphones and tablets) to enhance accessibility in balance evaluations with reasonable sensitivity and good cost−benefit. The prospects are evident, as well as the need to identify weakness and highlight the strengths of the different approaches. In order to verify if mobile devices and other gadgets are able to assess balance, four electronic databases were searched from their inception to February 2019. Studies reporting the use of inertial sensors on mobile and other gadgets to assess balance in healthy adults, compared to other evaluation methods were included. The quality of the nine studies selected was assessed and the current protocols often used were summarized. Most studies did not provide enough information about their assessment protocols, limiting the reproducibility and the reliability of the results. Data gathered from the studies did not allow us to conclude if mobile devices and other gadgets have discriminatory power (accuracy) to assess postural balance. Although the approach is promising, the overall quality of the available studies is low to moderate.

Keywords

• mHealth
• postural balance
• wearable electronic devices
• mobile applications