Interactive Multimodal Ambulatory Monitoring to Investigate the Association between Physical Activity and Affect.

Although there is a wealth of evidence that physical activity has positive effects on psychological health, a large proportion of people are inactive. Data regarding counts, steps, and movement patterns are limited in their ability to explain why people remain inactive. We propose that multimodal ambulatory monitoring, which combines the assessment of physical activity with the assessment of psychological variables, helps to elucidate real world physical activity. Whereas physical activity can be monitored continuously, psychological variables can only be assessed at discrete intervals, such as every hour. Moreover, the assessment of psychological variables must be linked to the activity of interest. For example, if an inactive and overweight person is physically active once a week, psychological variables should be assessed during this episode. Linking the assessment of psychological variables to episodes of an activity of interest can be achieved with interactive monitoring. The primary aim of our interactive multimodal ambulatory monitoring approach was to intentionally increase the number of e-diary assessments during "active" episodes. We developed and tested an interactive monitoring algorithm that continuously monitors physical activity in everyday life. When predefined thresholds are surpassed, the algorithm triggers a signal for participants to answer questions in their electronic diary. Using data from 70 participants wearing an accelerative device for 24 h each, we found that our algorithm quadrupled the frequency of e-diary assessments during the activity episodes of interest compared to random sampling. Multimodal interactive ambulatory monitoring appears to be a promising approach to enhancing our understanding of real world physical activity and movement.

Why I would want to use complementary and alternative therapy: a patient's perspective.

People are increasingly turning to complementary therapy as an adjunct to traditional care, but a large percentage do not share that information with their physician. People with rheumatic disease use alternative and complementary therapies for many reasons, and they use a wide variety of therapies. Chronic diseases are among the most difficult to treat with traditional Western medications that attack symptoms, while more alternative and complementary therapies offer relief through other means. Everyone involved--medical doctor, patient, and complementary practitioner--needs to know about the entire treatment regimen and handle it with the patient's overall, long-term health and quality of life in mind. Organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation and professional holistic groups can partner to increase knowledge and further enhance quality of life for people with rheumatic disease.