Over 26 Years' Worth of Data Collected for the Mobilise-D Study in Sheffield!

The Mobilise-D team in Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust completed their last patient, last visit yesterday on the 23rd April 2024, marking an end to over 26 years' worth of mobility data collection!

Mobilise-D, funded by EU-Horizon, is the largest study of free world walking ever conducted. In Sheffield, the study took place in the NIHR Sheffield Clinical Research Facility (CRF) and was supported by the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Facility (BRC). 

Mobility – how well we walk – is an important marker of health; a slow walking speed is associated with greater mortality, morbidity, cognitive decline, dementia, and fall risk. As the population ages, the number of people experiencing mobility challenges is expected to rise. However, accurately assessing people’s mobility, especially in the real daily life world, is far from easy. 

Mobilise-D aims to develop a comprehensive system to monitor and evaluate people’s gait based on digital technologies, including sensors worn on the body. The project focuses on conditions which often affect mobility, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, hip fracture recovery, and congestive heart failure. Results from Mobilise-D will help to improve the accurate assessment of daily life mobility in clinical trials and patient treatment, thereby contributing to improved and more personalised care.

The Sheffield Mobilise-D Multiple Sclerosis Team.
Prof Basil Sharrack; Dr Gavin Brittain; Cameron Obie; Hannah Maughan; Georgina MacLoughlin; Dr Ellen Buckley.

Mobilise-D focuses on five different patient groups that together represent respiratory problems (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – COPD), neurodegenerative conditions (Parkinson’s disease – PD), neuroinflammatory problems (multiple sclerosis – MS), osteoporosis and sarcopenia (hip fracture recovery/proximal femoral fracture – PFF), and cardiac pathology (congestive heart failure – CHF). 

Sheffield is the lead site for the Multiple Sclerosis patient group, led by Professor Basil Sharrack. The Sheffield MS team have now completed their last data collection visit, gathering information on walking speed, mobility challenges, and other potential events, such as falls and hospitalisation.

Sheffield is the top recruiting site of the Mobilise-D study, recruiting 300 people with Multiple Sclerosis and completing 1,400 patient assessments that have captured over 4,200 hours of direct patient activity.  This amounts to 26 years' worth of real-world mobility data! 

Results from the study will be published soon. 

To find out more about the Mobilise-D study, visit https://mobilise-d.eu/

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