WALK-AGED

Durada

01/04/2019 - 31/12/2026

Coordinador

Judith Garcia

Finançadors

This study is part of the Mobilise-D project, funded by the IMI 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 820820, with additional funding from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS PI20/0041).

Walking and gait in an ageing world: a convergent mixed-methods study in older people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (WALK-AGED)

The ability to move freely is fundamental to physical, mental and social well-being and plays a key role in maintaining independence and quality of life. Yet mobility has received relatively little research attention outside conditions characterised by specific movement impairments.

As populations live longer and survival improves for people with chronic diseases, an increasing number of individuals experience declining mobility. This loss of mobility can have a major impact on independence and is associated with growing personal, social and economic costs. Developing effective strategies to preserve mobility is therefore becoming an increasingly important public health priority.

To prevent or delay mobility decline, reliable tools are needed to detect and measure changes in how people move in their everyday lives. Digital technologies offer new opportunities to assess real-world mobility objectively and continuously, providing insights that cannot always be captured through traditional clinical assessments.

Project objectives:

1. To validate Digital Mobility Outcomes (DMOs) derived from Mobilise-D algorithms in people with COPD.

2. To investigate how highly polluted environments may influence the benefits associated with mobility.

3. To characterise real-world mobility impairment in people with COPD by combining digital mobility assessments with qualitative and quantitative data.

By integrating digital technology with a mixed-methods approach, the project aims to improve our understanding of mobility loss in COPD and contribute to the development of better strategies to preserve mobility and independence as people age.