Using a Real-Time Location System for Assessment of Patient Ambulation in a Hospital Setting

Objective: To assess the feasibility of using an infrared-based Real-Time Location System (RTLS) for measuring patient ambulation in a 2-minute walk test (2MWT) by comparing the distance walked and the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility (JH-HLM) score to clinician observation as a criterion standard.

Design: Criterion standard validation study.

Setting: Inpatient, university hospital.

Participants: Patients (N=25) in an adult neuroscience/brain rescue unit.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: RTLS and clinician-reported ambulation distance in feet, and JH-HLM score on an 8-point ordinal scale.

Results: The RTLS ambulation distance for the 25 patients in the 2MWT was between 68 and 516ft. The mean difference between clinician-reported and RTLS ambulation distance was 8.4±11.7ft (2.7%±4.6%). The correlation between clinician-reported and RTLS ambulation distance was 97.9% (P<.01). The clinician-reported ambulation distance for 2 patients was +100ft and -99ft compared with the RTLS distance, implying clinician error in counting the number of laps (98ft). The correlation between the RTLS distance and clinician-reported distance excluding these 2 patients is 99.8% (P<.01). The accuracy of the RTLS for assessment of JH-HLM score for all 25 patients was 96%. The average patient speed obtained from RTLS data varied between 0.4 and 3.0mph.

Conclusions: The RTLS is able to accurately measure patient ambulation and calculate JH-HLM for a 2MWT when compared with clinician observation as the criterion standard.