Ravalli Silvia, Roggio Federico, Lauretta Giovanni, Di Rosa Michelino, D'Amico Agata Grazia, D'agata Velia, Maugeri Grazia, Musumeci Giuseppe
Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, School of Medicine, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Via Giovanni Pascoli 6, 90144 Palermo, Italy.
Heliyon. 2022 Feb 22;8(2):e08991. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08991. eCollection 2022 Feb.
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Current guidelines emphasize the importance of regular physical activity as a preventive measure against disease progression and as a valuable strategy for pain and functionality management. Despite this, most patients with osteoarthritis are inactive. Modern technological advances have led to the implementation of digital devices, such as wearables and smartphones, showing new opportunities for healthcare professionals and researchers to monitor physical activity and therefore engage patients in daily exercising. Additionally, digital devices have emerged as a promising tool for improving frequent health data collection, disease monitoring, and supporting public health surveillance. The leveraging of digital data has laid the foundation for developing a new concept of epidemiological study, known as "Digital Epidemiology". Analyzing real-world data can change the way we observe human behavior and suggest health interventions, as in the case of physical exercise and osteoarthritic patients. Furthermore, large-scale data could contribute to personalized and precision medicine in the future. Herein, an overview of recent clinical applications of wearables for monitoring physical activity in patients with osteoarthritis and the benefits of exploiting real-world data in the context of digital epidemiology are discussed.
骨关节炎是一种退行性关节疾病，影响着全球数百万人。当前指南强调定期进行体育活动作为预防疾病进展的措施以及作为疼痛和功能管理的重要策略的重要性。尽管如此，大多数骨关节炎患者缺乏运动。现代技术进步导致了数字设备的应用，如可穿戴设备和智能手机，为医疗保健专业人员和研究人员监测体育活动并因此促使患者进行日常锻炼提供了新机会。此外，数字设备已成为改善频繁健康数据收集、疾病监测以及支持公共卫生监测的有前景的工具。数字数据的利用为发展一种新的流行病学研究概念——“数字流行病学”奠定了基础。分析真实世界数据可以改变我们观察人类行为的方式，并为健康干预提供建议，就像体育锻炼和骨关节炎患者的情况一样。此外，大规模数据未来可能有助于个性化和精准医学。在此，讨论了可穿戴设备在监测骨关节炎患者体育活动方面的近期临床应用概述以及在数字流行病学背景下利用真实世界数据的益处。
