A model to develop frailty diagnosis tools through mobile devices and a service-oriented approach

Abstract

Frailty is a health condition related to aging and dependence. A reduction or delay of frailty state can improve the quality of elderly life. However, providing a frailty assessment is difficult because many factors must be taken into account. Most of the time, measurement of these factors is performed in a non-centralized way, encouraging physician to make a wrong diagnosis or not as objective as it should be. In this paper we propose a general model as a guideline to develop systems focused on elderly frailty assessment by using mobile phone capabilities and service-based approach. The proposed model uses a set of identified elements, facilitating the deployment of relevant services to support physicians in frailty decision-making. From this model, accelerometer sensors are entities used to get data of physical activity, while the mobile phone is responsible for service deployment. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.