Postoperative use of fitness trackers for continuous monitoring of vital signs: a survey of hospitalized patients

Wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are increasingly incorporated into healthcare, including perioperative settings. These devices offer continuous non-invasive monitoring of vital signs, patient position, and mobilization. Nonetheless, there is currently little information about tolerance and acceptance of wearables in postoperative patients. We therefore assessed opinions and user experience in postoperative patients who used three popular fitness trackers during their entire hospital stay. Specifically, we evaluate the Apple Watch 7, Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, and Withings ScanWatch. We used an investigator-designed patient questionnaire with 11 questions to quantify patient experience and opinions regarding inpatient and home monitoring. Secondarily, we evaluated compliance and the incidence of associated adverse events during daily patient visits. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. The majority of the answers to the questions (82.1%) were rated positively defined as Likert-Scale Scores 4 or 5 by the 33 analyzed patients, ranging between 72.7 and 97.0% agreement rate. Specific questions related to data sharing for research and overall user experience received high agreement rates (97.0 and 84.8%, respectively). Women reported slightly higher satisfaction with device comfort, as compared to men (LS-Score 4.8 vs. 4.0). No significant differences were found based on the device model or length of hospitalization. The use of wearable devices in healthcare is rated positively by postoperative inpatients, paving the way for future implementation of these devices in healthcare. However, besides validating the measurement accuracy and demonstrating clinical benefits, several regulatory hurdles must be overcome before implementing wearables in routine clinical care.