Data availability and usability of a remote device for vital sign monitoring on general wards and home: a single-center prospective, observational study.

Abstract

Continuous monitoring with wireless wearable devices enables early detection of clinical deterioration and supports post-discharge monitoring. This study evaluated data availability and patient usability of a novel upper-arm wearable sensor for continuous monitoring, on the general ward and at home, and compared its intramural performance with the current local standard. This prospective observational study was conducted at an academic hospital involving surgical and gastroenterological patients. The viQtor was used alongside ViSi Mobile during hospital admission and subsequently stand-alone for seven days post-discharge. Data availability was measured by analyzing the proportion of missing data, usability with the System Usability Scale (SUS), and data agreement by comparing in-hospital vital sign measurements between the viQtor and ViSi Mobile. Forty-five patients (median age 64 years) participated, of whom 35 (78%) continued using viQtor at home. Data gaps increased with patient activity during admission and at home. In-hospital data availability for the viQtor was similar for pulse rate (87% vs. 85%) but lower for respiratory rate (56% vs. 83%) and oxygen saturation (SpO₂) (48% vs. 84%) compared to ViSi Mobile. At home, the data availability of the viQtor for pulse rate, respiratory rate and SpO₂ was 77%, 46%, and 39%, respectively. ViQtor achieved a mean SUS score of 71.1, indicating acceptable usability. ViQtor showed slightly higher pulse rate values, and lower respiratory rate and SpO₂ values compared to ViSi Mobile. Data availability of the viQtor was high for pulse rate but limited for respiratory rate and SpO₂, compared to the ViSi Mobile. Activity lowered data availability of all parameters, particularly at home. Patient usability was acceptable. The viQtor showed small but significant vital-sign differences compared with the ViSi Mobile. Reducing activity-related data loss may further improve applicability for continuous monitoring.