Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Psychophysiology. 2019 Nov;56(11):e13441. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13441. Epub 2019 Jul 23.
Wearable sensors are promising instruments for conducting both laboratory and ambulatory research in psychophysiology. However, scholars should be aware of their measurement error and the conditions in which accuracy is achieved. This study aimed to assess the accuracy of a wearable sensor designed for research purposes, the E4 wristband (Empatica, Milan, Italy), in measuring heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and skin conductance (SC) over five laboratory conditions widely used in stress reactivity research (seated rest, paced breathing, orthostatic, Stroop, speech task) and two ecological conditions (slow walking, keyboard typing). Forty healthy participants concurrently wore the wristband and two gold standard measurement systems (i.e., electrocardiography and finger SC sensor). The wristband accuracy was determined by evaluating the signal quality and the correlations with and the Bland-Altman plots against gold standard-derived measurements. Moreover, exploratory analyses were performed to assess predictors of measurement error. Mean HR measures showed the best accuracy over all conditions. HRV measures showed satisfactory accuracy in seated rest, paced breathing, and recovery conditions but not in dynamic conditions, including speaking. Accuracy was diminished by wrist movements, cognitive and emotional stress, nonstationarity, and larger wrist circumferences. Wrist SC measures showed neither correlation nor visual resemblance with finger SC signal, suggesting that the two sites may reflect different phenomena. Future studies are needed to assess the responsivity of wrist SC to emotional and cognitive stress. Limitations and implications for laboratory and ambulatory research are discussed.
可穿戴传感器在进行心理生理学的实验室和动态研究方面具有广阔的应用前景。然而,学者们应该意识到它们的测量误差以及精度达到的条件。本研究旨在评估一款专为研究设计的可穿戴传感器 E4 腕带(意大利米兰的 Empatica 公司)在五种广泛用于应激反应性研究的实验室条件(静坐休息、 paced breathing、直立位、Stroop 任务、言语任务)和两种生态条件(慢走、键盘打字)下测量心率(HR)、心率变异性(HRV)和皮肤电导(SC)的准确性。四十名健康参与者同时佩戴腕带和两个黄金标准测量系统(即心电图和手指 SC 传感器)。腕带的准确性通过评估信号质量以及与黄金标准衍生测量值的相关性和 Bland-Altman 图来确定。此外,还进行了探索性分析以评估测量误差的预测因素。平均 HR 测量值在所有条件下均表现出最佳准确性。HRV 测量值在静坐休息、 paced breathing 和恢复条件下具有令人满意的准确性,但在包括说话在内的动态条件下则不准确。腕部运动、认知和情绪压力、非平稳性以及更大的手腕周长会降低准确性。腕部 SC 测量值与手指 SC 信号既没有相关性也没有视觉相似性,表明这两个部位可能反映了不同的现象。未来的研究需要评估腕部 SC 对情绪和认知应激的反应性。讨论了实验室和动态研究的局限性和意义。
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