New methods in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: interactive monitoring and detection of posture and movement patterns.

Psychophysiological monitoring can be used to assess emotional reactivity in cardiovascular measures. Since blood pressure (BP) variability in daily life is primarily caused by physical activity, metabolic and nonmetabolic effects are confounded. A newly developed method of multiple accelerometry allows for the control of such unwanted variances by continuously detecting posture, general activity, and distinct movement patterns.

Simultaneous assessment of posture and limb movements (e.g., periodic leg movements) with calibrated multiple accelerometry.

This study describes new applications for the method of calibrated multiple accelerometry, which detects posture and distinct motion patterns, and limb movements continuously. The aim of our study was to evaluate this assessment technique in terms of its suitability for exploring the relationships between pathological limb movement activity (e.g.

Aversive tension in patients with borderline personality disorder: a computer-based controlled field study.

Objective: This study was designed to examine the subjective appraisal of aversive tension under conditions of daily life in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Method: A sample of 63 female subjects with BPD and 40 mentally healthy controls were each given a hand-held computer. For two consecutive days, participants were prompted at hourly intervals to record their current state of aversive tension and prompting events.

Tremor in Parkinson's disease: 24-hr monitoring with calibrated accelerometry.

Monitoring systems enable the long-term registration of tremor in patients with Parkinson's disease This method is useful in the objective measurement of tremor during the course of treatments. Indeed, the symptoms of tremor as well as the aggravating and attenuating influences can be observed under real-life conditions. The methodology of data recording and analysis, described in previous investigations, was extended to automatically detect body position and certain movement patterns with calibrated 4-channel accelerometry.