User acceptance and Usability of a home based gait analysis system

Abstract:
In rural areas consulting a specialist can be challenging for older people with limited mobility. Especially in terms of demographic change this is a major concern. In order to maintain mobility as long as possible and to support people with reduced mobility, prevention of falls through home-based gait monitoring is a promising approach. So called digital ehealth applications must meet the special requirements of older people, since there is often a high threshold for the use of new technologies. In the present study an easy to operate gait analysis system is evaluated in terms of usability and user acceptance. A group of twelve healthy adults (24 to 53 years old) independently conducted a gait analysis (with the developed system) and subsequently answered the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Technology Usage Inventory (TUI). The average SUS score was 85 ± 8.79, indicating excellent perceived usability in the usergroup. For the TUI above average values were reported for ‘Ease of use’ and ‘Accessibility’. Regarding technical affinity of the user group low levels of ‘Anxiety’ and high values for ‘Interest’ were observed. These results indicate the potential of the proposed system. The next step is to test the system in a cohort corresponding to the target population.