Method
Physical activity (PA) was monitored during five consecutive days in 77 chronic pain patients and 15 pain-free healthy subjects. PA barcodes were quantified using complementary measures such as structural complexity metrics (information and sample entropy, Lempel-Ziv complexity), time spent in PA states, and composite scores, which integrate all measures.
The results suggest that significant information about pain-related functional limitations is captured by the structural complexity of PA barcodes, which decreases when the intensity of pain increases.
Publications
1. Paraschiv-Ionescu A, Perruchoud C, Buchser E, Aminian K (2012) Barcoding Human Physical Activity to Assess Chronic Pain Conditions. PLoS ONE 7(2): e32239. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032239
2. Paraschiv-Ionescu, A., Buchser, E., & Aminian, K. (2013). Unraveling dynamics of human physical activity patterns in chronic pain conditions. Scientific reports, 3.