Novel wearable and contactless heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation monitoring devices: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify, classify and evaluate the body of evidence on novel wearable and contactless devices that measure heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturations in the clinical setting. We included any studies of hospital inpatients, including sleep study clinics. Eighty-four studies were included in the final review. There were 56 studies of wearable devices and 29 of contactless devices. One study assessed both types of device. A high risk of patient selection and rater bias was present in proportionally more studies assessing contactless devices compared with studies assessing wearable devices (p = 0.023 and p < 0.0001, respectively). There was high but equivalent likelihood of blinding bias between the two types of studies (p = 0.076). Wearable device studies were commercially available devices validated in acute clinical settings by clinical staff and had more real-time data analysis (p = 0.04). Contactless devices were more experimental, and data were analysed post-hoc. Pooled estimates of mean (95%CI) heart rate and respiratory rate bias in wearable devices were 1.25 (-0.31-2.82) beats.min-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -9.36-10.08) and 0.68 (0.05-1.32) breaths.min-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -5.65-6.85). The pooled estimate for mean (95%CI) heart rate and respiratory rate bias in contactless devices was 2.18 (3.31-7.66) beats.min-1 (pooled limits of agreement -6.71-10.88) and 0.30 (-0.26-0.87) breaths.min-1 (pooled 95% limits of agreement -3.94-4.29). Only two studies of wearable devices measured Sp O2 ; these reported mean measurement biases of 3.54% (limits of agreement -5.65-11.45%) and 2.9% (-7.4-1.7%). Heterogeneity was observed across studies, but absent when devices were grouped by measurement modality and reference standard. We conclude that, while studies of wearable devices were of slightly better quality than contactless devices, in general all studies of novel devices were of low quality, with small (< 100) patient datasets, typically not blinded and often using inappropriate statistical techniques. Both types of devices were statistically equivalent in accuracy and precision, but wearable devices demonstrated less measurement bias and more precision at extreme vital signs. The statistical variability in precision and accuracy between studies is partially explained by differences in reference standards.

White matter microstructure predicts longitudinal social cognitive outcomes after paediatric traumatic brain injury: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

BACKGROUND: Deficits in social cognition may be among the most profound and disabling sequelae of paediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the neuroanatomical correlates of longitudinal outcomes in this domain remain unexplored. This study aimed to characterize social cognitive outcomes longitudinally after paediatric TBI, and to evaluate the use of sub-acute diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to predict these outcomes. METHODS: The sample included 52 children with mild complex-severe TBI who were assessed on cognitive theory of mind (ToM), pragmatic language and affective ToM at 6- and 24-months post-injury. For comparison, 43 typically developing controls (TDCs) of similar age and sex were recruited. DTI data were acquired sub-acutely (mean = 5.5 weeks post-injury) in a subset of 65 children (TBI = 35; TDC = 30) to evaluate longitudinal prospective relationships between white matter microstructure assessed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics and social cognitive outcomes. RESULTS: Whole brain voxel-wise analysis revealed significantly higher mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) in the sub-acute TBI group compared with TDC, with differences observed predominantly in the splenium of the corpus callosum (sCC), sagittal stratum (SS), dorsal cingulum (DC), uncinate fasciculus (UF) and middle and superior cerebellar peduncles (MCP & SCP, respectively). Relative to TDCs, children with TBI showed poorer cognitive ToM, affective ToM and pragmatic language at 6-months post-insult, and those deficits were related to abnormal diffusivity of the sCC, SS, DC, UF, MCP and SCP. Moreover, children with TBI showed poorer affective ToM and pragmatic language at 24-months post-injury, and those outcomes were predicted by sub-acute alterations in diffusivity of the DC and MCP. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal microstructure within frontal-temporal, limbic and cerebro-cerebellar white matter may be a risk factor for long-term social difficulties observed in children with TBI. DTI may have potential to unlock early prognostic markers of long-term social outcomes.

Physical therapists' perceptions of family involvement in the rehabilitation process.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how physical therapists working in rehabilitation settings involved families in the patient's rehabilitation program and what factors facilitated or impeded this involvement. Forty physical therapists practicing in the eastern United States were individually interviewed on their involvement of families in a patient's rehabilitation. The interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for main themes. Family involvement was found to be a significant aspect of a patient's rehabilitation. Factors pertaining to the family, the patient, the healthcare organization and the physical therapist were identified. Factors, such as the family's knowledge, attitudes and skills of the family, their relationship with the patient prior to the injury or disability, the availability and opportunity of family members to be involved, and their physical capabilities, all influenced the degree to which the family participated. Therapists also perceived the cognitive status of the patient as a factor which dictated the proper amount of family participation. The healthcare organization was an important factor which needed to encourage and support the family participation. With decreased lengths of stay there is less time for families to be independent in caring for their loved one. The organization of the department could be instrumental in this by providing multiple formal and informal avenues for family training, such as support groups, home visits, 'open door' policy visiting hours, and scheduling changes. Finally, the physical therapists might have been the single most significant factor in facilitating family involvement. It was important for them to establish open and honest communication and be pro-activists for their patients and their families. The findings were consistent with the existing literature base in relation to the patient and family. Additional findings present physical therapists and healthcare organizations with suggestions for improving family education.