An Assessment of Physical Activity Data Collected via a Smartphone App and a Smart Band in Breast Cancer Survivors: Observational Study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough distress screening is crucial for cancer survivors, it is not easy for clinicians to recognize distress. Physical activity (PA) data collected by mobile devices such as smart bands and smartphone apps have the potential to be used to screen distress in breast cancer survivors.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess data collection rates of smartphone apps and smart bands in terms of PA data, investigate the correlation between PA data from mobile devices and distress-related questionnaires from smartphone apps, and demonstrate factors associated with data collection with smart bands and smartphone apps in breast cancer survivors.MethodsIn this prospective observational study, patients who underwent surgery for breast cancer at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea, between June 2017 and March 2018 were enrolled and asked to use both a smartphone app and smart band for 6 months. The overall compliance rates of the daily PA data collection via the smartphone walking apps and wearable smart bands were analyzed in a within-subject manner. The longitudinal daily collection rates were calculated to examine the dropout pattern. We also performed multivariate linear regression analysis to examine factors associated with compliance with daily collection. Finally, we tested the correlation between the count of daily average steps and distress level using Pearson correlation analysis.ResultsA total of 160 female patients who underwent breast cancer surgeries were enrolled. The overall compliance rates for using a smartphone app and smart bands were 88.0% (24,224/27,513) and 52.5% (14,431/27,513), respectively. The longitudinal compliance rate for smartphone apps was 77.8% at day 180, while the longitudinal compliance rate for smart bands rapidly decreased over time, reaching 17.5% at day 180. Subjects who were young, with other comorbidities, or receiving antihormonal therapy or targeted therapy showed significantly higher compliance rates to the smartphone app. However, no factor was associated with the compliance rate to the smart band. In terms of the correlation between the count of daily steps and distress level, step counts collected via smart band showed a significant correlation with distress level.ConclusionsSmartphone apps or smart bands are feasible tools to collect data on the physical activity of breast cancer survivors. PA data from mobile devices are correlated with participants’ distress data, which suggests the potential role of mobile devices in the management of distress in breast cancer survivors.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03072966; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03072966

Exercise Promotion and Distress Reduction Using a Mobile App-Based Community in Breast Cancer Survivors

“…We also included a previous prospective study for a comparative analysis (NCT03072966). The previous study was conducted to develop distress-screening algorithms using mobile devices in breast cancer survivors who had never been registered to a mobile community (10), and otherwise, the platform of study design was similar to that of the present study. We used this group of patients as a control group who did not participate in the mobile community.…”

“…After 3 months of follow-up, the number of participants in the mobile communitylater and -first groups were 21 and 16, respectively. We included 160 patients from the previous prospective study for the comparative analysis (10). Table 1 summarizes the descriptive statistics of the demographics and clinical characteristics of the participants as absolute and relative frequencies.…”

From Patient Engagement to Precision Oncology: Leveraging Informatics to Advance Cancer Care

“…Currently, it is still challenging to bring together disparate data streams generated by patients from technologies such as smartphones, social media platforms, wearable activity trackers, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smart home sensors. However, multiple studies have begun to demonstrate the value of employing digital health technologies to improve cancer prevention and care 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 .…”

“…Use of wearable activity trackers and other IoT sensors to capture additional patient-generated health data is expanding. Several feasibility studies have had favorable results, although sample size was generally small [17][18][19]. Studies noted that higher daily steps recorded from activity trackers were correlated with PROs such as increased performance status [17], lower distress [18,19], fatigue [18], depressive symptoms [18,19], adverse events, hospitalizations, and death [17].…”

“…Several feasibility studies have had favorable results, although sample size was generally small [17][18][19]. Studies noted that higher daily steps recorded from activity trackers were correlated with PROs such as increased performance status [17], lower distress [18,19], fatigue [18], depressive symptoms [18,19], adverse events, hospitalizations, and death [17]. Despite high drop-off rates for wear time for activity trackers [18,19], this research highlights that wearable devices could provide accurate assessments of performance status and physical function to inform treatment selection and could serve as a viable proxy for PROs.…”