On May 20th Jarrett Evans from Florida State University presented preliminary results at the ATA 2014 Annual Meeting and Expo suggesting that healthy older adults may be more receptive than previously reported to the use of wearable technologies for continuous activity tracking.
The research study involved measuring user comfort and acceptability using a modified Comfort Rating Scale and System Usability Scale developed by psychologists at the university. Study subjects were remotely monitored by nurses over a six month period using the MobileCare Monitor, which is AFrame Digital’s cloud-based PERS and telehealth system.
The research is part of a larger effort to determine how best to provide more proactive, nonintrusive, and continuous remote monitoring for improved personal safety and health management among older adults.
According to the researchers, study subjects wore AFrame Digital’s wristwatch-based activity tracker for 76 percent of the time over six months. Subjects also took their vitals measurements and answered daily surveys more than 85 percent of the time. The average age of the study subjects was 74 years, ranging in age from 66 to 81 years.
These results contract sharply with media reports that more than one-third of American consumers who have owned a wearable product stop using it within six months, according to Endeavor Partners and others.
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