Measuring energy expenditure after stroke: Validation of a portable device

Background and Purpose-: Current means of assessing physical activity and energy expenditure have restrictions in stroke, limiting our understanding of its role in therapeutic management. This study validates a portable multisensor array for measuring free-living total energy expenditure compared with a gold standard Method (doubly labeled water) in individuals with stroke. Methods-: Daily energy expenditure was measured in 9 participants with stroke (73±8 years) over a 10-day period with 2 techniques: a portable multisensor array and doubly labeled water. Results-: Bland-Altman analysis revealed a mean difference of 94 kcal/day (3.8%) in total energy expenditure measures given by the multisensor array in comparison to doubly labeled water with lower and upper limits of agreement of-276 to 463.8 kcal/day (2473±468 versus 2380±551, P=0.167). There was strong agreement between the multisensor array and labeled water Methods of capturing total daily energy expenditure (r=0.850, P=0.004). Conclusions-: The multisensor array is a portable and accurate Method of capturing daily energy expenditure and may assist in understanding how stroke influences free-living energy expenditure and aid in clinical management.