Resident Stanford Healthcare Stanford, California, United States
Disclosure(s):
Parastou Fatemi, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Introduction: Early mobilization after surgery is associated with reduced complications, shorter hospitalization, and improved psychological well-being. Current methods for evaluating spine surgery outcomes rely on subjective, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Wearable activity monitors, including the Apple Watch (AW), allow for real-time tracking of objective activity metrics.
Our study aims to determine: (1) The feasibility of wearing the AW before/after surgery; (2) Whether objective metrics correlate with PROMs before/after surgery; (3) Whether surgery improves AW objective measures; and (4) Whether patients are more satisfied with their care and better understand their recovery using the AW.
Methods: Eligibility: Adult patients undergoing elective spine surgery. Patients are randomized 1:1 to the intervention vs control group (target enrollment=100 each).
All patients complete PROMs and a study-specific questionnaire pre-operatively and at 6-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, and 1-year post-operatively. Intervention patients receive an AW to wear pre-operatively and for one year after surgery. AW health measures are collected via a study-specific app and visualized in reports provided to patients and surgeons.
Results: To date, we have enrolled 177 patients (n=90 intervention; n=87 control). On average, intervention patients (n=76) have worn the AW 84.8%±18.8% of the days since enrollment for 14.1±3.0 hours/day.
At 6-weeks post-operation, 76% of patients responded that they were very satisfied with using the AW in their spine care. 67% found seeing their AW activity data helpful. 94% of neurosurgeons agreed that AW reports help them understand their patients’ recovery. Preliminary analyses of patient recovery profiles have predicted the requirement for revision surgery in some participants.
Conclusion : Preliminary results indicate patients are compliant with wearing the AW, and both patients and surgeons are satisfied with its use in their spine care. Initial analyses show poor correlation between AW measures and PROMs, emphasizing the need for a metric that combines objective and subjective measures to track spine surgery recovery.
