Returning Individualized Wearable Sensor Results to Older Adult Research Participants: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Digital Health

Background:

• Wearable sensors are increasingly used in clinical research for monitoring physical behaviors.
• Older adults are interested in tracking and receiving feedback on their physical activity.
• Returning individual study results from research-grade wearable sensors to participants is an open question.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of returning individual physical behavior results to older adult research participants.
• To gather participant feedback on the content and presentation of returned results.

Main Methods:

• Twenty older adults (ages 67-96) participated in 14 days of remote monitoring using two wearable sensors.
• A semi-automated process generated a one-page report summarizing each participant's physical behaviors.
• Reports were emailed to participants for evaluation.

Main Results:

• Participants found the reports easy to understand, health-relevant, interesting, and visually pleasing.
• Participants provided valuable suggestions for improving data interpretability.
• Concerns were raised regarding comparisons with consumer-grade sensor data.

Conclusions:

• Returning individual physical behavior results from research-grade devices to older participants is feasible and generally well-received.
• Further research is needed for efficient, scalable systems and to understand preferences in diverse populations.