Continuous recording of vital signs with a wearable device in pediatric
patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer -- a feasibility pilot study
Abstract
Background Pediatric patients with cancer are at high risk for severe
infections. Delayed diagnosis and treatment increases mortality.
Infections can trigger changes of vital signs long before clinical
symptoms arise. Continuous recording may detect such changes earlier
than discrete measurements. We aimed to assess the feasibility of
continuous recording of vital sings by a wearable device (WD) in
pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Methods In this
prospective, observational single-center pilot study (NCT04134429)
pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer wore the Everion®
WD for 14 days. Results Twenty patients were included (median age, 6
years; range, 2-16). Six patients (predefined feasibility criterion, ≥15
patients) aged 3-16 years fulfilled the patient specific goal, defined
as heart rate recorded with good quality during ≥18 hours/day on ≥7
consecutive days. The quality of heart rate recording was good during
3992 of 6576 (61%) hours studied, poor during 300 (5%) hours, and no
data was recorded during 2284 (35%) hours. Eighteen of 20 participants
indicated that this WD is acceptable to measure vital sings in children
undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Conclusion We found that continuous
recording of vital signs by the Everion® WD is feasible across a very
wide age range in pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
In the configuration studied, however, the predefined feasibility
criterion was not fulfilled. This was mainly due to important compliance
problems and independent of the WD itself. These results will influence
the design of future WD-studies including those aiming to identify
patterns predicting fever or infection.