Abstract
We developed a new assessment method of activities of daily living performance using a low-cost motion sensor: a Microsoft Kinect. The objective for this study was to investigate 3 aspects (kinematic value, required time, observation score) on two mimic eating tasks performance in relation to age differences. Right-handed 12 elderly and 13 young people carried salt with a spoon in Spoon task (S-task) and ten cubes with chopsticks in Chopsticks task (C-task). The performance was recorded using a Kinect. A rate of change of acceleration: a jerk was calculated in vertical coordinates of right wrist as a parameter for smoothness of upper extremity movement. Occupational therapists rated the performance by observation. An Age group×Task ANOVA showed a significant main effects of Age group on two items (SD of a jerk, observation score) and of Task on required time, but no interaction. The SD of a jerk was smaller; observation score was lower in elderly people than in young people. It took a time longer in S-task than in C-task. In conclusion, kinematic value and observation score in these tasks performance represented the basic difference of physical and cognitive functions between the age groups.
