Effect of Consumer-Grade Wearable Device Data on Clinician Decision Making During Post-Discharge Telephone Calls after Pediatric Surgery
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In brief
In brief
This study examined whether consumer wearable device data (heart rate, activity from Fitbit) influences clinician decisions during post-discharge phone calls after pediatric surgery. Twenty-four clinicians reviewed simulated scenarios with and without wearable data, showing that reassuring physiologic data significantly reduced recommendations for emergency department visits.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
BACKGROUND
During post-discharge telephone calls after pediatric surgery, clinicians must rely on parents/caregivers' assessment of symptoms, which can be inaccurate and often lead to unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits. Physiology (heart rate and physical activity) data from consumer-grade wearables, e.g., FitbitTM, may inform clinical decision making, yet there has been little study of clinician interpretation of this data. This study assessed whether wearable data availability, during simulated telephone calls about postoperative, post-discharge pediatric patients, affects clinician decision making.
METHODS
Three simulated telephone call scenarios were presented to a diverse group of pediatric surgery clinicians. The scenarios were based on actual postoperative patients (scenarios 1 and 3 have worrisome symptoms and scenario 2 has non-worrisome symptoms) who had worn a FitbitTM postoperatively. Each scenario was presented to clinicians (1) without any wearable data; (2) with "concerning" wearable data; and (3) with "reassuring" wearable data. Clinicians rated their likelihood, on a scale of 1-10, of recommending an emergency department (ED) visit for the three instances of each scenario, 10 being definitely ED.
RESULTS
Twenty-four (24) clinicians participated in the study. When presented with "reassuring" wearable data, clinicians' likelihood of recommending an ED visit decreased from a median score of 6 to 1 (p