Smartphone-based activity research: methodology and key insights.

Area of Science:

• Digital health
• Medical informatics
• Surgical outcomes research

Background:

• Patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) are valuable but subjective.
• Smartphone accelerometers can passively collect objective physical activity data.
• Objective data offers insights into patient recovery and functional status post-surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a methodological guide for collecting and analyzing smartphone accelerometer data.
• To assess clinical outcomes following surgery using objective patient-generated health data.
• To explore the potential of smartphones in understanding spinal disease and treatment.

Main Methods:

• Extracting patient health metrics (steps, distance, flights climbed) from smartphones.
• Utilizing HIPAA-compliant applications for secure data upload and de-identification.
• Applying statistical normalization and a 14-day moving average for data analysis.
• Integrating clinical variables for predictive computational models.

Main Results:

• Smartphone data provides continuous and nuanced insights into patient health.
• Quantifiable recovery and decline periods can be identified.
• Potential for predicting patient trajectories and guiding clinical decisions.

Conclusions:

• Smartphones present a novel metric for studying patient well-being and surgical outcomes.
• Research in this area is emerging but holds transformative potential for spinal disease understanding.