The Need for Objective Physical Activity Measurements in Routine Bariatric Care

PURPOSE: This study aims to (1) quantify physical behavior through self-reports and sensor-based measures, (2) examine the correlation between self-reported and sensor-based physical activity (PA) and (3) assess whether bariatric patients adhere to PA guidelines. METHODS: A Fitbit accelerometer was used to collect minute-to-minute step count and heart rate data for 14 consecutive days. Total physical activity levels (PAL), moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SB) were used to quantify physical behavior. Self-reported PA was assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). To analyze the association between sensor-based and self-reported PA, Spearman’s correlation was used. A minimum of 150 MVPA minutes per week was considered as compliance with the PA guidelines. RESULTS: Fitbit data of 37 pre- and 18 post-surgery patients was analyzed. Participants averaged 7403 ± 3243 steps/day and spent most of their time sedentary (832 min, IQR: 749 – 879), especially in prolonged periods of ≥ 30 min (525, IQR: 419 – 641). Median MVPA time was 5.6 min/day (IQR: 1.7 – 10.6). Correlations between self-reported and sensor-based MVPA and SB were respectively 0.072 and 0.455. Only 17.1% was objectively adherent to MVPA guidelines ≥ 150 min/week, while 94.3% met the guidelines in case of self-reports. CONCLUSION: PA quantification confirmed that bariatric patients are highly sedentary and rarely engage in MVPA, despite a relatively high daily step count. Moreover, bariatric patients are not able to assess MVPA and moderately their SB by self-reports. Our results indicate the need for sensor-based PA monitoring in routine bariatric care. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11695-022-06165-y

Daily physical activity patterns in cancer survivors: a pilot study

In cancer survivors activity levels have been studied primarily by means of questionnaires, while objective information on actual daily activity levels and their distribution throughout the day is lacking. The findings of this study suggest that especially cancer survivors who received chemotherapy as part of their treatment, have low physical activity levels. However, this study did not found support for a deviating daily activity pattern in cancer survivors compared to healthy controls. Since information on daily activity patterns is important for the development of new interventions to improve post cancer activity behavior, additional research is needed to determine if a larger study sample supports the findings of this pilot study

Towards cancer rehabilitation at home: design of a telerehabilitation service for lung cancer patients

Although lung resection still provides the best long-term outcome for lung cancer, it is also associated with a considerable decay in physical and psychosocial health status. If not controlled, these symptoms can hamper postsurgical recovery, and lead to unscheduled healthcare use. This study aimed to determine the clinical relevance of and functional requirements for a telerehabilitation (TR) service to support recovery following lung resection. A modular remote monitoring and treatment service, consisting of an ambulant health monitoring module and an online exercise program, was developed to improve survivorship care following lung surgery through a user-centred design approach. Results from the requirement elicitation indicate positive intentions of both patients and professionals to use the RMT service as part of current care practice. In early phase evaluation usability and technical reliability of the developed system was found high. Future research should establish level of adoption of the system by the end users, as well as the effects on post-surgery recovery when integrated with current healthcare processes

Strategies to improve effectiveness of physical activity coaching systems:Development of personas for providing tailored feedback

Mobile physical activity interventions can be improved by incorporating behavioural change theories. Relations between self-efficacy, stage of change, and physical activity are investigated, enabling development of feedback strategies that can be used to improve their effectiveness. A total of 325 healthy control participants and 82 patients wore an activity monitor. Participants completed a self-efficacy or stage of change questionnaire. Results show that higher self-efficacy is related to higher activity levels. Patients are less active than healthy controls and show a larger drop in physical activity over the day. Patients in the maintenance stage of change are more active than patients in lower stages of change, but show an equally large drop in level of physical activity. Findings suggest that coaching should at least be tailored to level of self-efficacy, stage of change, and physical activity pattern. Tailored coaching strategies are developed, which suggest that increasing self-efficacy of users is most important. Guidelines are provided

Co-creation of an ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation application for resected lung cancer survivors: design and evaluation

Background Lung cancer (LC) patients experience high symptom burden and significant decline of physical fitness and quality of life following lung resection. Good quality of survivorship care post-surgery is essential to optimize recovery and prevent unscheduled healthcare use. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can improve post-surgery care, as it enables frequent monitoring of health status in daily life, provides timely and personalized feedback to patients and professionals, and improves accessibility to rehabilitation programs. Despite its promises, implementation of telehealthcare applications is challenging, often hampered by non-acceptance of the developed service by its end-users. A promising approach is to involve the end-users early and continuously during the developmental process through a so-called user-centred design approach. The aim of this article is to report on this process of co-creation and evaluation of a multimodal ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation program with and for lung cancer patients treated with lung resection and their healthcare professionals (HCPs). Methods A user-centered design approach was used. Through semi-structured interviews (n = 10 LC patients and 6 HCPs), focus groups (n = 5 HCPs), and scenarios (n = 5 HCPs), user needs and requirements were elicited. Semi-structured interviews and the System Usability Scale (SUS) were used to evaluate usability of the telehealthcare application with 7 LC patients and 10 HCPs. Results The developed application consists of: 1) self-monitoring of symptoms and physical activity using on-body sensors and a smartphone, and 2) a web based physical exercise program. 71 % of LC patients and 78 % of HCPs were willing to use the application as part of lung cancer treatment. Accessibility of data via electronic patient records was essential for HCPs. LC patients regarded a positive attitude of the HCP towards the application essential. Overall, the usability (SUS median score = 70, range 35–95) was rated acceptable. Conclusions A telehealthcare application that facilitates symptom monitoring and physical fitness training is considered a useful tool to further improve recovery following surgery of resected lung cancer (LC) patients. Involvement of end users in the design process appears to be necessary to optimize chances of adoption, compliance and implementation of telemedicine

Co-creation of an ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation program for lung cancer survivors

Background: Lung cancer (LC) patients experience high symptom burden and significant decline of physical fitness and Quality of Life following lung resection. Good quality of survivorship care post-surgery is essential to optimize recovery and prevent unscheduled healthcare use. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can improve post-surgery care, as it enables frequent monitoring of health status in daily life, provides timely and personalized feedback to patients and professionals, and improves accessibility to rehabilitation programs. Despite its promises, implementation of ICT applications is challenging, often hampered by non-acceptance of the developed service by its end-users. A promising approach is to involve the end-users early and continuously during the developmental process through a so-called user-centred design approach. The aim of this abstract is to report on this process of co-creation of an ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation program with and for lung cancer patients and their healthcare professionals (HCP’s). Material and Methods: Requirements were established during semi-structured interviews and focus groups with LC patients (n=10) and HCP’s (n=11) and validated by means of written scenarios describing the integration of the future program in existing healthcare processes. Requirement specification was succeeded by the development of a first prototype. Usability of the prototype was then evaluated with healthy subjects (n=13), LC patients (n=7) and HCP’s (n=9) by means of semi-structured interviews and the System Usability Scale (SUS). Results: The developed rehabilitation program contains the following modules: 1) symptom self-monitoring of pain, dyspnoea, fatigue, and physical condition using on-body sensors (HR, O2 saturation, and accelerometer) in combination with a smartphone, and 2) an online physical exercise program. The results of the symptom monitoring module are visualised on a web portal integrating monitoring data with electronic patient records. Usability of the program was scored acceptable by 84% of the users (SUS median score=78). Overall, LC patients and HCP’s found the system simple and effective for daily symptom monitoring and improvement of physical fitness with a home-based exercise program, and 73% would be willing to use the system when offered to them as part of lung cancer treatment. Conclusion: With a user-centred design approach we were able to assess and evaluate the requirements of LC patients and HCP’s for the ICT-supported rehabilitation program repeatedly during the entire developmental process, resulting in a final version of the program that matches the end users’ requirements. The next step is to evaluate feasibility and clinical effect of the program as part of regular care following lung cancer surgery

Physical behavior and associations with health outcomes in operable NSCLC patients: A prospective study

Objectives: Our objectives were to 1) characterize daily physical behavior of operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, from preoperative to six months postoperative using accelerometry, and explore if physical behavior preoperative or one month postoperative is associated with better health outcomes at six months postoperative. Methods: A prospective study with 23 patients (13 female) diagnosed with primary NSCLC and scheduled for curative lung resection was performed. Outcome measures were assessed two weeks preoperative, and one, three and six months postoperative, and included accelerometer-derived physical behavior measures and the following health outcomes: six minute walking distance (6MWD), questionnaires concerning health-related quality of life (HRQOL), fatigue and distress. Results: On group average, physical behavior showed significant changes over time. Physical behavior worsened following surgery, but improved between one and six months postoperative, almost reaching preoperative levels. However, physical behavior showed high variability between patients in both amount as well as change over time. More time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in bouts of 10 min or longer in the first month postoperative was significantly associated with better 6MWD, HRQOL, distress, and fatigue at six months postoperative. Conclusion: As expected, curative lung resection impacts physical behavior. Patients who were more active in the first month following surgery reported better health outcome six months postoperative. The large variability in activity patterns over time observed between patients, suggests that physical behavior ‘profiling’ through detailed monitoring of physical behavior could facilitate tailored goal setting in interventions that target change in physical behavior

Co-creation of an ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation application for resected lung cancer survivors: design and evaluation

Lung cancer (LC) patients experience high symptom burden and significant decline of physical fitness and quality of life following lung resection. Good quality of survivorship care post-surgery is essential to optimize recovery and prevent unscheduled healthcare use. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can improve post-surgery care, as it enables frequent monitoring of health status in daily life, provides timely and personalized feedback to patients and professionals, and improves accessibility to rehabilitation programs. Despite its promises, implementation of telehealthcare applications is challenging, often hampered by non-acceptance of the developed service by its end-users. A promising approach is to involve the end-users early and continuously during the developmental process through a so-called user-centred design approach. The aim of this article is to report on this process of co-creation and evaluation of a multimodal ICT-supported cancer rehabilitation program with and for lung cancer patients treated with lung resection and their healthcare professionals (HCPs). A user-centered design approach was used. Through semi-structured interviews (n = 10 LC patients and 6 HCPs), focus groups (n = 5 HCPs), and scenarios (n = 5 HCPs), user needs and requirements were elicited. Semi-structured interviews and the System Usability Scale (SUS) were used to evaluate usability of the telehealthcare application with 7 LC patients and 10 HCPs. The developed application consists of: 1) self-monitoring of symptoms and physical activity using on-body sensors and a smartphone, and 2) a web based physical exercise program. 71 % of LC patients and 78 % of HCPs were willing to use the application as part of lung cancer treatment. Accessibility of data via electronic patient records was essential for HCPs. LC patients regarded a positive attitude of the HCP towards the application essential. Overall, the usability (SUS median score = 70, range 35-95) was rated acceptable. A telehealthcare application that facilitates symptom monitoring and physical fitness training is considered a useful tool to further improve recovery following surgery of resected lung cancer (LC) patients. Involvement of end users in the design process appears to be necessary to optimize chances of adoption, compliance and implementation of telemedicin