Association of real life postural transitions kinematics with fatigue in neurodegenerative and immune diseases.

Romijnders, Robbin; Atrsaei, Arash; Rehman, Rana Zia Ur; Strehlow, Lea; Massoud, Jèrôme; Hinchliffe, Chloe; Macrae, Victoria; Emmert, Kirsten et al. · NPJ Digit Med · 2025

prospective_cohort · Level II

Where this comes from

Abstract

Fatigue is prevalent in immune-mediated inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, yet its assessment relies largely on patient-reported outcomes, which capture perception but not fluctuations over time. Wearable sensors, like inertial measurement units (IMUs), offer a way to monitor daily activities and evaluate functional capacity. This study investigates the relationship between sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit transitions and self-reported physical and mental fatigue in participants with Parkinson's, Huntington's, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, primary Sjögren's syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Over 4 weeks, participants wore an IMU and reported fatigue levels four times daily. Using mixed-effects models, associations were identified between fatigue and specific kinematic features, such as 5th and 95th percentiles of sit-to-stand performance, suggesting that fatigue alters the control and effort of movement. These kinematic features show promise as indicators for fatigue in these patient populations.