Wearable Technologies for Children with Chronic Illnesses: An Exploratory Approach

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Assessing physical activity in children with chronic diseases is crucial for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy.
• Existing methods may not fully capture the nuances of daily ambulation in pediatric populations.
• Wearable sensor technologies offer a promising avenue for objective and continuous physical activity assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of wearable technologies for assessing physical activity in children diagnosed with Niemann-Pick C (NP-C), Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Main Methods:

• An exploratory study involving 30 children across three UK hospitals, divided into NP-C, DMD, and JIA cohorts.
• Participants underwent the 6-min walk test (6MWT) and used smartphone apps paired with wearable devices for Bluetooth data transmission.
• Ambulation was recorded in 30-min epochs, measuring average daily maximum (ADM), average daily steps (ADS), and average daily steps per 30-min epoch (ASE).

Main Results:

• Median 6MWT distances varied across cohorts (NP-C: 450m, DMD: 325m, JIA: 434.5m).
• Wearable data capture was feasible across all disease groups, though sustained complete data capture was challenging.
• Statistically significant differences in ADM, ADS, and ASE were observed between the DMD/JIA, NP-C/DMD, and DMD/JIA cohorts, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Wearable sensor technologies demonstrate potential for enhancing the understanding of ambulation in pediatric chronic diseases.
• While devices were user-friendly and well-received, specific features require refinement to fully meet study objectives.
• Advancements in wearable technology present opportunities for developing child-friendly solutions for objective physical activity monitoring.