Automatic Assessment of Clinical Frailty
of Parkinson’s Disease Subjects
Marcello C. Fusca
1
, Emanuela Riva
2
, Paolo Perego
1
, Francesca Omini
3
,
Emanuele Conte
2
, Marco Impallomeni
2
, Stefania Rosaspina
2
, Antonio Grillo
2
,
Suardi Teresa
2
, Stefano Fabbrini
2
, and Giuseppe Andreoni
1,4(B )
1
Design Department, TeDH-SensibiLab, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
giuseppe.andreoni@polimi.it
2
A.S.P. “Golgi-Redaelli”, Milan, Italy
3
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Scuola di Specialità in Medicina Fisica e
Riabilitativa, Milan, Italy
4
CNR, Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology - IBFM, Segrate (Milan), Italy
Abstract. A wearable actigraph was applied in the functional assessment of sub-
ject affected by Parkinson Disease in Day Hospital setting. 24 Parkinson Disease
patients participated in this study. A set of standard functional tests (6-Minutes
Walking Test, Timed-Up-and-Go test, 10-m and 50-m) were administered to col-
lect data of functioning and physiatrist assigned the score according to the Clinical
Frailty Scale. An automatic evaluation of this frailty score is proposed using data
from 6-Minutes Walking Test and Timed-Up-and-Go test. The coherence of this
automated classification method based on a basic summative linear equation of the
2 functional scores, is 66,7% with respect to the score assigned by skilled physi-
atrists. The inclusion of the other data is expected to improve reliability and the
possibility to have an automatic identification of the frailty level through quanti-
tative data could open the possibility to have a more detailed assessment and even
continuous and domiciliary follow ups. Our goal is to have a predictive tool for
the patient’s state of frailty.
Keywords: Clinical frailty scale · Wearable · Actigraphy · Parkinson’s disease ·
Functional assessment
1 Introduction
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system
(CNS) with reduced levels of dopamine due to the degeneration of neurons in the sub-
stantia nigra area. It is characterized by a progressive and chronic disorder, mainly
concerning the control of movements and balance [1]. PD is characterized clinically by
precise distinctive signs:
© ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2021
Published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All Rights Reserved
P. Perego et al. (Eds.): ICWH 2020, LNICST 376, pp. 177–187, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76066-3_14