TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of physical health status beyond daily step count using a wearable activity sensor
AU - Xu, Zheng
AU - Zahradka, Nicole
AU - Ip, Seyvonne
AU - Koneshloo, Amir
AU - Roemmich, Ryan T.
AU - Sehgal, Sameep
AU - Highland, Kristin B.
AU - Searson, Peter C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Physical health status defines an individual’s ability to perform normal activities of daily living and is usually assessed in clinical settings by questionnaires and/or by validated tests, e.g. timed walk tests. These measurements have relatively low information content and are usually limited in frequency. Wearable sensors, such as activity monitors, enable remote measurement of parameters associated with physical activity but have not been widely explored beyond measurement of daily step count. Here we report on results from a cohort of 22 individuals with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) who were provided with a Fitbit activity monitor (Fitbit Charge HR®) between two clinic visits (18.4 ± 12.2 weeks). At each clinical visit, a maximum of 26 measurements were recorded (19 categorical and 7 continuous). From analysis of the minute-to-minute step rate and heart rate we derive several metrics associated with physical activity and cardiovascular function. These metrics are used to identify subgroups within the cohort and to compare to clinical parameters. Several Fitbit metrics are strongly correlated to continuous clinical parameters. Using a thresholding approach, we show that many Fitbit metrics result in statistically significant differences in clinical parameters between subgroups, including those associated with physical status, cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, as well as biomarkers from blood tests. These results highlight the fact that daily step count is only one of many metrics that can be derived from activity monitors.
AB - Physical health status defines an individual’s ability to perform normal activities of daily living and is usually assessed in clinical settings by questionnaires and/or by validated tests, e.g. timed walk tests. These measurements have relatively low information content and are usually limited in frequency. Wearable sensors, such as activity monitors, enable remote measurement of parameters associated with physical activity but have not been widely explored beyond measurement of daily step count. Here we report on results from a cohort of 22 individuals with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) who were provided with a Fitbit activity monitor (Fitbit Charge HR®) between two clinic visits (18.4 ± 12.2 weeks). At each clinical visit, a maximum of 26 measurements were recorded (19 categorical and 7 continuous). From analysis of the minute-to-minute step rate and heart rate we derive several metrics associated with physical activity and cardiovascular function. These metrics are used to identify subgroups within the cohort and to compare to clinical parameters. Several Fitbit metrics are strongly correlated to continuous clinical parameters. Using a thresholding approach, we show that many Fitbit metrics result in statistically significant differences in clinical parameters between subgroups, including those associated with physical status, cardiovascular function, pulmonary function, as well as biomarkers from blood tests. These results highlight the fact that daily step count is only one of many metrics that can be derived from activity monitors.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41746-022-00696-5
DO - 10.1038/s41746-022-00696-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 36352062
AN - SCOPUS:85141682195
SN - 2398-6352
VL - 5
JO - npj Digital Medicine
JF - npj Digital Medicine
IS - 1
M1 - 164
ER -