Patients’ experiences with commercially available activity trackers embedded in physiotherapy treatment: a qualitative study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the experience with commercially available activity trackers embedded in the physiotherapy treatment of patients with a chronic disease. Methods: In a qualitative study, 29 participants with a chronic disease participated. They wore an activity tracker for two to eight weeks. Data were collected using 23 interviews and discussion with 6 participants. A framework analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The framework analysis resulted in seven categories: purchase, instruction, characteristics, correct functioning, sharing data, privacy, use, and interest in feedback. The standard goal of the activity trackers was experienced as too high, however the tracker still motivated them to be more active. Participants would have liked more guidance from their physiotherapists because they experienced the trackers as complex. Participants experienced some technical failures, are willing to share data with their physiotherapist and, want to spend a maximum of e50,-. Conclusion: The developed framework gives insight into all important concepts from the experiences reported by patients with a chronic disease and can be used to guide further research and practice. Patients with a chronic disease were positive regarding activity trackers in general. When embedded in physiotherapy, more attention should be paid to the integration in treatment. ä IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Activity trackers are perceived by patients with a chronic disease, as motivating them to be more physically active and to reach daily activity goals. The standard goal of 10.000 steps of the activity trackers is often perceived as too high, patients with a chronic disease would like to make a personal activity goal together with their physiotherapist. Patients with a chronic disease experience commercially available activity trackers often as too complex for their technical skills, they would like more guidance from their physiotherapist about the use and interpretation of an activity tracker.

Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity tracker: (re)design of a user-friendly interface and evaluation of experiences in daily life

“…To analyze the interviews deductive and inductive content analysis [37] was used, using NVivo (version 10). The framework [10] of the interview guide was used for the deductive content analysis. Inductive coding was used when a text passage, that was relevant for the research question, did not fit the framework.…”

“…Based on the recent research of Ummels et al [10] regarding the experiences of the elderly with eight different activity trackers, 53 important characteristics to create a meaningful user-interface were determined (Appendix 1). For instance, three important characteristics from this list include the wearing location, outcome parameters, and feedback options.…”

“…Semi-structured interviews with all participants about their experiences with the MISS activity were performed. The interview guide was based on a framework of a previous study [10], with the following main categories: purchase, instruction, characteristics, correct functioning, sharing data, privacy, use of the activity tracker, and interest in feedback. The interview lasted between 15-30 min and was recorded on audio.…”

“…Studies show that incorporating the use of an activity tracker into one's healthcare can motivate elderly individuals to become more physically active. The primary explanations for this phenomenon are that trackers provide insight into an elderly individual's amount of physical activity and increase their awareness of their physical activity [8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…The user-friendliness of an activity tracker is an important feature to start and continue using an activity tracker. Several studies concluded that the elderly do not achieve a meaningful userexperience with existing activity trackers because there is a disparity between tracker features and the skills and needs of the elderly [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Frequently mentioned problems include an imbalance between technical skills and the perceived complexity of the activity tracker, the lack of a clear manual, complex interpretation of feedback, excessively high standards for daily activity goals (e.g., 10,000 steps), and reduced wearing comfort [10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”