JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Older people are the fastest-growing subpopulation in high-income countries. There is a growing concern about monitoring their well-being and safety while living independently. However, monitoring devices can be found obtrusive and a risk to privacy. An alternative is using energy monitoring and/ or water usage and therewith 24-hour-pattern detection.

Objective:

The study's objective was to provide a systematic overview of studies that monitor the health and well-being of older people using energy (i.e. electricity, gas) and water usage data and describe the effectiveness of these systems.

Methods:

The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase, Medline OVID, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched systematically from inception until 8 November 2021. Studies that were included had to be published in English, had a target population of independent-living people aged 60 years and over, assessed the effectiveness of a monitoring system based on energy (i.e. electricity, gas, water) usage on well-being and safety, evaluated the type of monitoring system, including the smart meter and had an observational design.

Results:

The search strategy identified 2920 articles. The majority of studies focused on algorithms that can be derived from energy usage data and various sensors. One study met the in- and exclusion criteria. This article showed that the smart energy meter data monitoring system was considered unobtrusive and was well accepted by the older people and professionals involved. Also, it discovered that energy usage in a household acts as a unique signature and therefore provides unexpected information about well-being and safety. This study lacked statistical power due to the small number of participants and the low number of observed events. In addition, the quality of the study was rated as low.

Conclusions:

This review identified studies that aimed to develop an energy usage monitoring system by defining algorithms to detect 24-hour-patterns of older people. Only one study was included that evaluated the effectiveness of an energy usage monitoring system on the well-being and safety of older people. The absence of reliable evidence impedes any definitive guidance or recommendations for practice. Because this emerging field has not yet been studied thoroughly, many questions remain open for further research. Future studies should focus on further development of a monitoring system, and evaluation of both effectiveness and implementation of these systems. Clinical Trial: Prospero ID 245713