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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Chloe HinchliffeORCiD, Bing Zhai, Victoria Macrae, Jade Walton, Professor Fai Ng, Dr Silvia Del DinORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Objectives: Many individuals with chronic diseases, such as primary Sjogren’s syndrome (PSS), experience debilitating fatigue that substantially impacts their quality of life. Currently, assessments of fatigue rely on patient reported outcomes, which are subjective and prone to recall bias. Wearable devices, however, can provide continuous estimates of human activity and may provide objective evidence of fatigue. This study aims to stratify PSS patients with different fatigue levels using real-world measures of activity. Methods: 97 participants with PSS wore a VitalPatch chest sensor and a wrist-accelerometer (Actigraph GT9X Link) at home for two 7-day continuous periods. Participants reported their fatigue up to 3 times a day. Participants with minimum fatigue scores of 3-10 were categorised as “persistent fatigue” and 0-2 as “non-persistent fatigue”. The time spent in activity types (standing, walking, or sitting) estimated by the VitalPatch and in activity intensities (inactive, light, moderate, and vigorous) estimated from the accelerometer using GGIR of the two groups were tested with Mann-Whitney U. Results: 49 participants were classified as persistently fatigued. The persistent fatigue group spent more time sitting, inactive, and in moderate activity. But the times spent standing, walking, in light, and in vigorous activities were indistinguishable between the groups. However, the p-values were >0.05 for all activity levels for both sensors. Conclusions: The persistently fatigued participants tended to be less active than the non-persistent group, but this separation was not statistically significant. This is consistent with patient experience and previous studies, where patients who are fatigued are not less active, but such activities might require more effort. Therefore, future research should explore more nuanced measures to investigate the relationships between habitual movement and other physiological signals and fatigue in PSS.
Author(s): Hinchliffe C, Zhai B, Macrae V, Walton J, Ng WF, Del Din S
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: ICAMPAM
Year of Conference: 2024
Online publication date: 19/06/2024
Acceptance date: 19/03/2024
Date deposited: 05/08/2024
Publisher: International Society for the Measurement of Physical Behavior (ISMPB)
URL: https://ismpb.org/oral-sessions/
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/r3t2-q127
