Wearable devices in palliative care for people 65 years and older: A scoping review

Rada Sandic Spaho; Lisbeth Uhrenfeldt; Theofanis Fotis; Ingjerd Gåre Kymre

doi:10.1177/20552076231181212

Wearable devices in palliative care for people 65 years and older: A scoping review

Digit Health. 2023 Jul 2:9:20552076231181212. doi: 10.1177/20552076231181212. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Rada Sandic Spaho¹, Lisbeth Uhrenfeldt^{1

2

3}, Theofanis Fotis⁴, Ingjerd Gåre Kymre¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nord University, Bodo, Norway.
² Danish Centre of Systematic Reviews: An Affiliate Center of The Joanna Briggs Institute, The Center of Clinical Guidelines - Clearing House, Aalborg University Denmark, Aalborg, Denmark.
³ Institute of Regional Health Research, Lillebaelt University Hospital, Southern Danish University, Kolding, Denmark.
⁴ School of Sport & Health Sciences, Centre for Secure, Intelligent and Usable Systems, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to map existing evidence on the use of wearable devices in palliative care for older people.

Methods: The databases searched included MEDLINE (via Ovid), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Google Scholar, which was included to capture grey literature. Databases were searched in the English language, without date restrictions. Reviewed results included studies and reviews involving patients aged 65 years or older who were active users of non-invasive wearable devices in the context of palliative care, with no limitations on gender or medical condition. The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute's comprehensive and systematic guidelines for conducting scoping reviews.

Results: Of the 1,520 reports identified through searching the databases, reference lists, and citations, six reports met our inclusion criteria. The types of wearable devices discussed in these reports were accelerometers and actigraph units. Wearable devices were found to be useful in various health conditions, as the patient monitoring data enabled treatment adjustments. The results are mapped in tables as well as a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) chart.

Conclusions: The findings indicate limited and sparse evidence for the population group of patients aged 65 years and older in the palliative context. Hence, more research on this particular age group is needed. The available evidence shows the benefits of wearable device use in enabling patient-centred palliative care, treatment adjustments and symptom management, and reducing the need for patients to travel to clinics while maintaining communication with healthcare professionals.

Keywords: Wearable electronic devices; accelerometers; actigraphy; aged; aged, 80 and over; critical illness; healthcare professionals; older people; palliative care; wearable sensors.

Publication types

Review