The assessment of physical ability is a critical component in developing personalized exercise prescriptions, monitoring disease progression, and evaluating intervention outcomes across various clinical and general populations. This study evaluates how objective physical performance parameters, measured during a stepping in place (SIP) exercise via Ambulosono wearable system, relate to subjective perceptions of fatigue and breathlessness using Borg and Fatigue Scores. Our overall results show that SIP, as a convenient and simple exercise modality, can be used to rank a user's physical ability level based on both objective and subjective parameters. Furthermore, while the objective walking/gait parameters may have some predictive ability for the such parameter as cadence, they do not appear to significantly predict the subjective fatigue or breathlessness scores, either before or after the activity. This lack of significant relationships suggests that factors other than the measured objective gait metrics may play a more important role in determining subjective experiences of fatigue and breathlessness during the stepping exercise.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

ISRCTN06023392

This study was partially funded by Alberta Ministry of Mental Health and Hotchkiss Brain Institute

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Calgary Research Ethics Board as part of Ambulosono registered trial (ISRCTN06023392). Informed written consent was obtained from participants at baseline prior to participation.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors