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Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare

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J Telemed Telecare 2009;15:302-309
doi:10.1258/jtt.2009.081106
© 2009 Royal Society of Medicine Press

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RESEARCH

Original articles

Compliance and technical feasibility of long-term health monitoring with wearable and ambient technologies

Juho Merilahti * , Juha Pärkkä *, Kari Antila *, Paula Paavilainen {dagger}, Elina Mattila *, Esko-Juhani Malm *, Ari Saarinen {ddagger} and Ilkka Korhonen *


* Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Oulu; {dagger} School of Public Health, University of Tampere; {ddagger} Rokua Rehabilitation Centre, Rokua, Finland

Correspondence: Juho Merilahti, VTT, PO Box 1300, FIN-33101, Tampere, Finland (Fax: +358 20 772 3499; Email: Juho.Merilahti{at}vtt.fi)

We developed a system consisting of both wearable and ambient technologies designed to monitor personal wellbeing for several months during daily life. The variables monitored included bodyweight, blood pressure, heart-rate variability and air temperature. Two different user groups were studied: there were 17 working-age subjects participating in a vocational rehabilitation programme and 19 elderly people living in an assisted living facility. The working-age subjects collected data for a total of 1406 days; the average participation period was 83 days (range 43–99). The elderly subjects collected data for a total of 1593 days; the average participation period was 84 days (range 19–107). Usage, technical feasibility and usability of the system were also studied. Some technical and practical problems appeared which we had not expected such as thunder storm damage to equipment in homes and scheduling differences between staff and the subjects. The users gave positive feedback in almost all their responses in a questionnaire. The study suggests that the data-collection rate is likely be 70–90% for typical health monitoring data.


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