Yitang Hao

• Improve diagnosis and care of people living with dementia through novel applications of digital mobility research
• BSc Hons Biomedical Sciences

Dementia is affecting more than 55 million people worldwide and one of the most important aspects of disease diagnosis and treatment is gait- basically how well people walk. Dementia greatly impacts patients’ walking patterns and makes them more easily to fall. Surprisingly, psychological condition also contributes to fall risks and in this research we are going to measure and analyze mobility in different physiological and psychological status patients and trying to investigate how much each factor is actually affecting patients’ mobility.

In this study, we categorized people with cognitive impairment into four groups depending on their profiles on physiological and perceived fall risk. In clinical gait assessment based in gait lab, we found that for people with same physiological fall risks, those who were not worried about having a fall had better gait performance than those who were worried. However, the results didn’t crossover to free living conditions.

Funded by: Newcastle University Research Scholarship

Project Supervisor: Dr Riona McArdle