Wearable Devices for Supporting Chronic Disease Self-Management: Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Digital Health
• Chronic Disease Management

Background:

• Wearable devices offer benefits for managing chronic diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles.
• Existing literature reviews have not comprehensively examined the intersection of various chronic diseases, wearable technologies, and intervention outcomes in primary care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and describe chronic diseases in intervention studies.
• To categorize the types or combinations of wearable devices utilized.
• To outline the health and health care outcomes assessed in these studies.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review was conducted following Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines.
• Searches were performed on MEDLINE and Web of Science databases for studies published between 2012 and 2022.
• Included studies involved adult populations with chronic diseases using wearables for automatic data collection and transmission.

Main Results:

• 79 studies were included, focusing on diverse chronic diseases like diabetes, heart failure, and cardiovascular conditions.
• Wearable activity trackers were the most commonly used devices (53%).
• A wide range of outcomes were reported, including clinical, behavioral, patient technology experience, health care system, and holistic outcomes.

Conclusions:

• This review highlights disparities in the chronic diseases and wearable devices investigated in intervention studies.
• Findings suggest areas for future research, including exploring more health care outcomes and validating combined device use.
• There is potential to expand the application of wearable devices to a broader spectrum of chronic conditions.