Health at hand

Display Omitted Consumer smart watches have penetrated health research rapidly from 2014 to 2016.Patient studies focused on activity, behavior, heart rate and seizure monitoring.Most studies sought to validate smart watch function.Prominent technical challenges are battery power and data quality limitations.Larger studies that integrate smart watch data with other health data are needed. IntroductionSmart watches have the potential to support health in everyday living by: enabling self-monitoring of personal activity; obtaining feedback based on activity measures; allowing for in-situ surveys to identify patterns of behavior; and supporting bi-directional communication with health care providers and family members. However, smart watches are an emerging technology and research with these devices is at a nascent stage. MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of smart watch studies that engaged people in their use by searching PubMed, Embase, IEEE XPlore and ACM Digital libraries. Participant demographics, device features, watch applications and methods, and technical challenges were abstracted from included studies. ResultsSeventy-three studies were returned in the search. Seventeen studies published were included. Included studies were published from 2014 to 2016, with the exception of one published in 2011. Most studies employed the use of consumer-grade smart watches (14/17, 82%). Patient-related studies focused on activity monitoring, heart rate monitoring, speech therapy adherence, diabetes self-management, and detection of seizures, tremors, scratching, eating, and medication-taking behaviors. Most patient-related studies enrolled participants with few exclusion criteria to validate smart watch function (10/17, 58%). Only studies that focused on Parkinsons disease, epilepsy, and diabetes management enrolled persons living with targeted conditions. One study focused on nursing work in the ICU and one focused on CPR training for laypeople. ConclusionConsumer-grade smart watches have penetrated the health research space rapidly since 2014. Smart watch technical function, acceptability, and effectiveness in supporting health must be validated in larger field studies that enroll actual participants living with the conditions these devices target.