The construct validity of real-world digital mobility outcomes in people with COPD
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Recent advances in wearable technologies make it possible to accurately quantify real-world mobility performance through technically validated digital mobility outcomes (DMOs). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the construct validity (convergent, divergent, and known-groups validity) of 24 DMOs quantifying walking activity (amount and pattern) and gait (pace, rhythm and bout-to-bout variability) in people with COPD. Methods: Part of the Mobilise-D observational cohort study, people with COPD, recruited from seven European sites, wore an activity monitor for 7 days during daily life. Functional capacity, health status, dyspnoea, lung function, quadriceps torque and experience of difficulty with physical activity were used as constructs for convergent validity testing (Pearson/Spearman correlation coefficients). Diastolic blood pressure was used as an unrelated construct for divergent validity (criterion: |r|<0.2). Known-groups validity was evaluated across Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages (I-IV), GOLD ABE and modified Medical Research Council dyspnoea grades (linear models with p-for-trend). Results: hypotheses by clinical experts. All DMOs supported divergent validity. 22 out of 24 DMOs distinguished between disease severity groups successfully. Expert consensus supported construct validity of 17 DMOs. Conclusions: Construct validity was supported for all walking activity (amount and pattern) DMOs, and most of the gait (pace, rhythm, and bout-to-bout variability) DMOs, indicating the clinical utility of these measures.
Source: ERJ Open Research
Authors: Dimitrios Megaritis, Michael Long, Martí de las Heras, Victoria Alcaraz-Serrano, Paula Alvarez, Clemens Becker, Julia Braun, Joren Buekers, Sara Buttery, Brian Caulfield, Andrea Cereatti, Nikolaos Chynkiamis, Silvia Del Din, Laura Delgado-Ortiz, Heleen Demeyer, Anja Frei, Elena Gimeno-Santos, Nicholas S. Hopkinson, Anisoara Ionescu, Carl-Philipp Jansen, Alícia Josa-Culleré, Anne Kirsten, Sarah Koch, Jorge Lemos, Keir E.J. Philip, Lynn Rochester, Basil Sharrack, David Singleton, Beatrix Vereijken, Ioannis Vogiatzis, Henrik Watz, Vita Lanfranchi, Thierry Troosters, Judith Garcia-Aymerich
Institutions: Northumbria University, Newcastle University, University of Sheffield, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Universitat Ramon Llull, Heidelberg University, Robert Bosch Stiftung, University of Zurich, Imperial College London, University College Dublin, Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, Politecnico di Torino, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Thorax Foundation, Sotiria General Hospital, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, University of Basel, Ghent University, KU Leuven, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, German Center for Lung Research, LungenClinic Grosshansdorf, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $808
Award: G6664792696
OpenAlex ID: W7128030487