1. Feasibility characteristics of wrist-worn fitness trackers in health status monitoring for post-COVID patients in remote and rural areas.
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Madeleine Wiebe, Marnie Mackay, Ragur Krishnan, Julie Tian, Jakob Larsson, Setayesh Modanloo, Christiane Job McIntosh, Melissa Sztym, Gail Elton-Smith, Alyssa Rose, Chester Ho, Andrew Greenshaw, Bo Cao, Andrew Chan, and Jake Hayward
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Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics ,R858-859.7 - Abstract
IntroductionCommon, consumer-grade biosensors mounted on fitness trackers and smartwatches can measure an array of biometrics that have potential utility in post-discharge medical monitoring, especially in remote/rural communities. The feasibility characteristics for wrist-worn biosensors are poorly described for post-COVID conditions and rural populations.MethodsWe prospectively recruited patients in rural communities who were enrolled in an at-home rehabilitation program for post-COVID conditions. They were asked to wear a FitBit Charge 2 device and biosensor parameters were analyzed [e.g. heart rate, sleep, and activity]. Electronic patient reported outcome measures [E-PROMS] for mental [bi-weekly] and physical [daily] symptoms were collected using SMS text or email [per patient preference]. Exit surveys and interviews evaluated the patient experience.ResultsTen patients were observed for an average of 58 days and half [N = 5] were monitored for 8 weeks or more. Five patients [50%] had been hospitalized with COVID [mean stay = 41 days] and 4 [36%] had required mechanical ventilation. As baseline, patients had moderate to severe levels of anxiety, depression, and stress; fatigue and shortness of breath were the most prevalent physical symptoms. Four patients [40%] already owned a smartwatch. In total, 575 patient days of patient monitoring occurred across 10 patients. Biosensor data was usable for 91.3% of study hours and surveys were completed 82.1% and 78.7% of the time for physical and mental symptoms, respectively. Positive correlations were observed between stress and resting heart rate [r = 0.360, pConclusionsWe report excellent feasibility characteristics for wrist-worn biosensors and e-PROMS as a possible substrate for multi-modal disease tracking in post-COVID conditions. Adapting consumer-grade wearables for medical use and scalable remote patient monitoring holds great potential.
- Published
- 2024
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