Table 1.
Classification of selected articles (papers were organized by the first author’s name, year, wearable device, device type, device location, number of patients, outcome measures, and findings).
| Authors, year | Wearable device | Device type | Device location | Patients, n | Outcome measure | Findings |
| Kwasnicki et al [15], 2015 | e-AR (Imperial College London) | Accelerometer | Ear | 14 | TUGa time and ROMb | The classification of patients into preoperative, normal, and 24-week postoperative groups based on outcomes was 89% accurate, while classification for all time intervals was 69% accurate. |
| Chiang et al [16], 2017 | APDM OPAL (APDM Wearable Technologies) | Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and barometer | Thigh and calf (2 sensors) | 18 | Satisfaction | Only 17% of patients felt uncomfortable with the sensor belt. |
| Bendich et al [17], 2019 | Fitbit Flex (Fitbit LLC) | Accelerometer | Wrist | 22 | Daily step count, daily minutes active, HOOS/KOOSc, and VR-12d score | Changes from preoperative levels to 6-week postoperative levels in “daily step count” and “daily minutes active” (collected with a wearable sensor) were strongly associated with improvements in HOOSs/KOOSs and VR-12 physical component scores (collected over the same period). |
| Chen et al [18], 2015 | APDM OPAL | Accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer | Chest, thigh, and calf (3 sensors) | 10 | ROM | The device was able to identify proper exercise posture 88.26% of the time. |
| Battenberg et al [19], 2017 | Fitbit One (Fitbit LLC), Omron HJ-321 (Omron Corporation), Sportline 340 Strider (Sportline Inc), Fitbit Force (Fitbit LLC), Nike+ Fuelband SE (Nike Inc), and StepWatch Activity Monitor (Orthocare Innovations) | Fitbit One (accelerometer), Omron HJ-321 (pedometer and accelerometer), Sportline 340 Strider (pedometer), Fitbit Force (accelerometer), Nike+ Fuelband SE (accelerometer), and StepWatch Activity Monitor (accelerometer) | Fitbit One (waist), Omron HJ-321 (waist), Sportline 340 Strider (waist), Fitbit Force (wrist), Nike+ Fuelband SE (wrist), and StepWatch Activity Monitor (ankle) | 30 | Step count | The waist-based devices—Fitbit One and Omron HJ-321—were >90% accurate in counting steps for all activities, the wristband devices were <90% accurate for most activities, and the StepWatch Activity Monitor (ankle) was >95% accurate for lower cadence activities but undercounted running by 25%. |
| Toogood et al [20], 2016 | Fitbit (Fitbit LLC) | Accelerometer | Ankle | 33 | Compliance | The mean compliance over 30 days was 26.7 days (89%). |
| Saporito et al [21], 2019 | Custom | Accelerometer and barometer | Neck (pendant) | 15 | TUG time | A strong correlation (ρ=0.70) was observed between remote TUG times and standardized TUG times. |
| Van der Walt et al [22], 2018 | Garmin Vivofit 2 (Garmin Ltd) | Accelerometer | Wrist | 163 | Step count | Participants receiving feedback on step goals from the device had significantly higher (P<.03) mean daily step counts than those of participants who did not receive any feedback from the device. |
| Kuiken et al [23], 2004 | Custom | Goniometer | Knee | 11 | ROM and mean activity rate | After total knee arthroplasty, patients wearing a device providing feedback had higher mean total activity rates—a measure of ROM—on days when they did not receive feedback from the device (mean 22.5, SD 11.1 activity counts per hour) than on days when they did receive feedback (mean 15.1, SD 10.9 activity counts per hour), but this was not statistically significant (P=.11). |
aTUG: Timed Up and Go.
bROM: range of motion.
cHOOS/KOOS: Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score/Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score.
dVR-12: Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey.