Scientists from Stanford University have developed an app to assess osteoarthritis risk at home using the sit-stand test. Research published in the journal npj Digital Medicine.
Musculoskeletal disorders affect more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. Early detection of these problems has the potential to prevent serious disorders, but few quantitative and objective tests are available to assess musculoskeletal health.
To solve this problem, scientists developed an online tool that can analyze user-recorded home videos. The instrument was sensitive enough to predict overall health and risk of knee or hip osteoarthritis.
The score is based on the sit-stand test. The patient needs to sit up and then stand up with folded arms and sit down again. This action must be repeated five times and videotaped. Standing up more slowly may indicate decreased lower body strength. The app also analyzes the person’s posture: the angles between the joints and the speed of various parts of the body during movement.
The application was tested on 405 participants. Their ages range from 18 to 96, with an average age of 37.5 years. Similar to previous laboratory and clinical studies, the new study showed that leaning forward more when standing up was associated with an increased risk of osteoarthritis. This observation was true even when adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index.