Parameters Selection for Bivariate Multiscale Entropy Analysis of Postural Fluctuations in Fallers and Non-Fallers Older Adults

IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2016 Aug;24(8):859-71. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2015.2473701. Epub 2015 Sep 10.

Abstract

Entropy measures are often used to quantify the regularity of postural sway time series. Recent methodological developments provided both multivariate and multiscale approaches allowing the extraction of complexity features from physiological signals; see "Dynamical complexity of human responses: A multivariate data-adaptive framework," in Bulletin of Polish Academy of Science and Technology, vol. 60, p. 433, 2012. The resulting entropy measures are good candidates for the analysis of bivariate postural sway signals exhibiting nonstationarity and multiscale properties. These methods are dependant on several input parameters such as embedding parameters. Using two data sets collected from institutionalized frail older adults, we numerically investigate the behavior of a recent multivariate and multiscale entropy estimator; see "Multivariate multiscale entropy: A tool for complexity analysis of multichannel data," Physics Review E, vol. 84, p. 061918, 2011. We propose criteria for the selection of the input parameters. Using these optimal parameters, we statistically compare the multivariate and multiscale entropy values of postural sway data of non-faller subjects to those of fallers. These two groups are discriminated by the resulting measures over multiple time scales. We also demonstrate that the typical parameter settings proposed in the literature lead to entropy measures that do not distinguish the two groups. This last result confirms the importance of the selection of appropriate input parameters.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Accidental Falls / prevention & control*
  • Accidental Falls / statistics & numerical data*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Computer Simulation
  • Entropy
  • Female
  • Foot / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Models, Biological*
  • Models, Statistical*
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Postural Balance / physiology*
  • Posture / physiology*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity