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Abstract: PO0502

Investigating the Use of Smartwatch-Based Self-Assessments to Monitor Fluid Consumption of Hemodialysis Patients

Session Information

Category: Bioengineering

  • 300 Bioengineering

Authors

  • Boukhechba, Mehdi, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
  • Tang, Mingyue, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
  • Bowman, Brendan T., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
  • Zoellner, Jamie M., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
  • Abdel-Rahman, Emaad M., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
Background

Fluid intake control is a bedrock component of treatment for End Stage Kidney (ESKD) Patients, but continues to be a major challenge for patients, healthcare providers, and organizations. The ramifications of poor fluid control include increased mortality and morbidities, frequent hospitalizations and increased total cost of care. The goal of this work is to investigate the feasibility of leveraging self-assessments based on smartwatches to monitor fluid consumption of ESKD patients.

Methods

ESKD patients on hemodialysis (n=11) were given an Android smartwatch with an in-house developed app pre-installed (Fluisense, available on Android play store). Patients were asked to log their fluid intake through the app by choosing from a list of predefined volumes each time they consume any liquid. The app computed and displayed the self-reported daily volume intake to help patients monitor their own fluid consumption (Figure 1-A). Patients received text messages twice a day (9am and 8pm) to remind them to use the watch. We also recorded patients’ weights before and after each of the thrice weekly dialysis sessions. The sum of self-reported interdialytic fluid intake was computed and compared against the interdialytic weight gain recorded in the clinic.

Results

Patients recorded fluids in 214 days out of 259 total days (i.e., 83% compliance rate). The average self-reported interdyalitic fluid consumption is 51 oz +/-64, and the average interdialytic weight gain is 2.67 kg +/- 1.56. We found a moderate but significant correlation between the self-reported fluid volumes and the interdialytic weight gain (r=0.363, P<0.001, r2=0.06).

Conclusion

Leveraging smartwatches for the self-assessment of fluid intake is a promising solution for fluid monitoring of ESKD patients. This can be related to the ease of utilization of this technology and the ecological validity of its measurements given they are collected close to when they happen, reducing recall biases. In the future, we will leverage low-burden sensor data to monitor patients’ fluid intake continuously and unobtrusively.