Wearable technology in respiratory disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The acceptability of wearable technology for long-term respiratory disease: a cross-sectional survey
IRAS ID
315202
Contact name
Swapna Mandal
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2022/07/28, Data Protection Number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Long-term lung conditions are the third leading cause of death world-wide with about 10,000 newly diagnosed cases weekly in the UK. Therefore, finding solutions to help people manage, live with, and improve their condition is vital. Wearable technology may be able to help patients with long-term lung conditions in many ways including disease monitoring, self-management, earlier treatment, increased activity, and improved quality of life. Wearable technology is any electronic device that is worn by someone close to and/or on the surface of the skin. It can collect information about that person, for example, body signals (such as heart rate, breathing rate or oxygen levels), activity levels and sleep patterns. It can track these signals, monitor progress, and let that person know how the signals have changed (feedback). In recent years the wearable technology health market has grown very quickly and is predicted to rise to $195.57 billion by 2027. Even the world health organisation (WHO) has understood that a shift in healthcare to one where technology plays a part is the future.
However, there are many challenges to current wearable technology including no regulation, privacy and the fact that most have not gone through clinical trials. This may affect patient views and limit patient acceptance and use. Therefore, it is necessary to identify patients’ views to try and find out what is important to them and whether wearable technology is acceptable to patients with long-term lung disease. This means that new technology can be made with patients in mind, meaning it is likely to be used by more people and therefore have the greatest benefit. Furthermore, it also means the wearable technology is specific to patients with long-term lung disease and will hopefully benefit this group in the future.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
22/NS/0117
Date of REC Opinion
11 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion