Remote data collection of infant activity and sleep patterns via wearable sensors in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD)

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. Wearable and remote sensing technologies have advanced data collection outside of laboratory settings to enable exploring, in more detail, the associations of early experiences with brain development and social and health outcomes. In the HBCD Study, the Novel Technology/Wearable Sensors Working Group (WG-NTW) identified two primary data types to be collected: infant activity (by measuring leg movements) and sleep (by measuring heart rate and leg movements). These wearable technologies allow for remote collection in the natural environment. This paper illustrates the collection of such data via wearable technologies and describes the decision-making framework, which led to the currently deployed study design, data collection protocol, and derivatives, which will be made publicly available. Moreover, considerations regarding actual and potential challenges to adoption and use, data management, privacy, and participant burden were examined. Lastly, the present limitations in the field of wearable sensor data collection and analysis will be discussed in terms of extant validation studies, the difficulties in comparing performance across different devices, and the impact of evolving hardware/software/firmware.