TY  - JOUR
AU  - Askman, Sanna
AU  - Löf, Marie
AU  - Maddison, Ralph
AU  - Nourse, Rebecca
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/2/17
TI  - Feasibility and Acceptability of Wearable Cameras to Assess Self-care in People With Heart Failure: Pilot Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e40536
VL  - 7
KW  - heart failure
KW  - HF
KW  - life logging
KW  - self-management
KW  - cardiovascular disease
KW  - wearable devices
KW  - self management
KW  - self-care
AB  - Background: Heart failure (HF) is a common chronic condition that affects over 26 million people worldwide. It is a progressive and debilitating disease with a broad symptom profile, intermittently marked by periods of acute decompensation. People with HF generally do not self-manage their condition well (eg, monitoring symptoms, taking medications regularly, physical activity, etc). A better understanding of self-care activities and what factors may indicate deterioration is warranted. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of using wearable cameras to assess self-care activities in people with HF. The study objectives were to (1) explore whether changes in self-care activities could be identified prior to hospitalization and (2) determine the acceptability of wearable cameras to people with HF. Methods: A total of 30 people recently diagnosed with HF wore a camera for a maximum of 30 days; the camera took a photo every 30 seconds in the forward-facing direction. At the end of the study, all 30 participants were presented with 8 statements of acceptability, scored on a 5-point Likert scale. To determine whether camera images could identify changes in self-care activities and lifestyle risk factors before hospitalization, we analyzed images from participants (n=8) who were hospitalized during the 30-day study period. Images from the period immediately prior to hospitalization and a comparison were selected for each participant. Images were manually coded according to 9 different event categories relating to self-care and lifestyle risk factors, and events were compared between the 2 periods. Results: The participants reported high acceptability for wearing the cameras, as most strongly agreed or agreed that they were comfortable to wear (28/30, 93%) and easy to use (30/30, 100%). The results of the camera image analysis showed that participants undertook fewer activities of daily living (P=.008) and were more sedentary (P=.02) prior to being hospitalized, compared to a period nonadjacent to hospitalization. Conclusions: Adults with HF were accepting of using a wearable camera for periods within a 30-day time frame. Wearable cameras were a feasible approach for providing data on selected self-care activities and lifestyle risk factors for HF and offer the potential to be a valuable tool for improving our understanding of self-care. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e40536
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/40536
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36800215
DO  - 10.2196/40536
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/40536
ER  -