Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jun 27, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 3, 2025
Patient acceptability and technical reliability of wearable devices used for monitoring people with Parkinson’s Disease: a survey study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with complex motor and non-motor symptoms. To assess these, clinical assessments are completed, which provide a subjective snapshot of a person’s experience. Monitoring Parkinson’s disease using wearable devices can provide continuous and objective data and capture information on movement patterns in daily life.
Objective:
To assess patient acceptability and technical reliability of two commonly used wearable devices.
Methods:
Participants in a feasibility study testing a self-management toolkit (PD-Care) optionally wore a wearable device for one week and provided quantitative and qualitative feedback about the acceptability of using it. (ActivInsights worn on the wrist and Axivity AX3 worn on the trunk and wrist). The quantitative assessments included questions using a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (with 1 being strongly agree and 5 being strongly disagree) whether i) The device was comfortable to wear; ii) The device was easy to put on; iii) The device was easy to wear; iv) The device was embarrassing to wear; and v) If they would be happy to wear the device for longer than seven days.
Results:
A total of 22/32 (69%) participants offered the device agreed to wear it. There were no significant differences in the demographic characteristics between the patients who chose to be monitored and those who chose not to be monitored. Acceptance with both devices was generally good. The wrist- and trunk-worn Axivity AX3 devices were less acceptable than the wrist-worn ActivInsights device, as many participants found it to be more uncomfortable (p=0.017 and p=0.001), less easy to wear (p=0.027 and p<0.000) and would not wear for more than 7 days (p=0.034 and p<0.000). There were no statistical differences in acceptability between the wrist- and trunk-worn Axivity AX3 devices. There were issues with battery life and recording errors in 3/14 Axivity AX3 devices and upload failures in 3/15 of the ActivInsights devices.
Conclusions:
Acceptability of wearables was satisfactory, especially when wrist-worn, but a considerable proportion of participants experienced difficulties in correct use and upload of data from these wearable devices. Clinical Trial: ISRCTN92831552
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