Wearable Device Remote Monitoring to Prevent Frailty Progression in Elderly: a Pilot Study

Frailty is a frequent condition in elderly, characterized by reduced physiologic reserve, leading to an increased risk for adverse events, such as disability, hospitalization, and death. In particular, it is a multidimensional disfunctional condition, including decreases in physiologic capacity in neurologic control (indicated by diminished ability to perform complex tasks), mechanical performance (e.g. diminished strength), and energy metabolism (e.g. decreased aerobic status due to cardiac or pulmonary diseases or both). All these factors lead to the worsening of quality of life. Focusing on the great impact of this condition in global population and the rising of social/health costs, related to this condition, frailty is earning a great interest from both at political level and European Community. For this reason, developing interventions programs aiming to prevent the progression of frailty towards the independence loss, it is considered a key objective for the improvement of the quality of life. In this context, this pilot study looks at the standardization of a study protocol to develop a useful model for enhancing local care in small population isolates, by remotely monitoring the health status of pre-frail subjects and improving the progression of the frailty condition, in order to support a healthy ageing for future investigation including a larger number of individuals.