UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, UCD, Dublin, Ireland.
Insight Centre for Data Analytics, UCD, 3rd Floor, O'Brien Science Centre East, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2021 May 11;18(1):78. doi: 10.1186/s12984-021-00874-8.
The use of wearable sensor technology to collect patient health data, such as gait and physical activity, offers the potential to transform healthcare research. To maximise the use of wearable devices in practice, it is important that they are usable by, and offer value to, all stakeholders. Although previous research has explored participants' opinions of devices, to date, limited studies have explored the experiences and opinions of the researchers who use and implement them. Researchers offer a unique insight into wearable devices as they may have access to multiple devices and cohorts, and thus gain a thorough understanding as to how and where this area needs to progress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences and opinions of researchers from academic, industry and clinical contexts, in the use of wearable devices to measure gait and physical activity.
Twenty professionals with experience using wearable devices in research were recruited from academic, industry and clinical backgrounds. Independent, semi-structured interviews were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. Transcribed texts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Five themes were identified: (1) The positives and negatives of using wearable devices in research, (2) The routine implementation of wearable devices into research and clinical practice, (3) The importance of compromise in protocols, (4) Securing good quality data, and (5) A paradigm shift. Researchers overwhelmingly supported the use of wearable sensor technology due to the insights that they may provide. Though barriers remain, researchers were pragmatic towards these, believing that there is a paradigm shift happening in this area of research that ultimately requires mistakes and significant volumes of further research to allow it to progress.
Multiple barriers to the use of wearable devices in research and clinical practice remain, including data management and clear clinical utility. However, researchers strongly believe that the potential benefit of these devices to support and create new clinical insights for patient care, is greater than any current barrier. Multi-disciplinary research integrating the expertise of both academia, industry and clinicians is a fundamental necessity to further develop wearable devices and protocols that match the varied needs of all stakeholders.
可穿戴传感器技术可用于收集患者健康数据，例如步态和身体活动，这为医疗保健研究带来了变革的潜力。为了在实践中最大化地利用可穿戴设备，重要的是让所有利益相关者都能使用并从设备中获得价值。尽管先前的研究已经探讨了参与者对设备的看法，但迄今为止，很少有研究探讨使用和实施这些设备的研究人员的经验和意见。研究人员对可穿戴设备有独特的见解，因为他们可能可以访问多种设备和研究对象，从而全面了解需要在何处以及如何改进。因此，本研究旨在探讨学术、工业和临床背景的研究人员在使用可穿戴设备测量步态和身体活动方面的经验和意见。
从学术、工业和临床背景中招募了 20 名具有使用可穿戴设备进行研究经验的专业人员。进行了独立的、半结构化的访谈，录音并转录。使用归纳主题分析对转录文本进行分析。
确定了五个主题：（1）在研究中使用可穿戴设备的优缺点，（2）将可穿戴设备常规纳入研究和临床实践，（3）协议中的妥协重要性，（4）确保高质量的数据，以及（5）范式转变。研究人员非常支持使用可穿戴传感器技术，因为它可以提供有价值的见解。尽管存在障碍，但研究人员对这些障碍持务实态度，认为在该研究领域正在发生范式转变，最终需要犯错并进行大量进一步的研究才能使其取得进展。
在研究和临床实践中使用可穿戴设备仍然存在多个障碍，包括数据管理和明确的临床实用性。然而，研究人员坚信，这些设备具有支持和为患者护理创造新的临床见解的潜力，超过了任何当前的障碍。整合学术界、工业界和临床医生专业知识的多学科研究是进一步开发可穿戴设备和协议的基本必要条件，这些设备和协议应满足所有利益相关者的各种需求。
