Challenges and recommendations for wearable devices in digital health: Data quality, interoperability, health equity, fairness

Canali, Stefano and Schiaffonati, Viola and Aliverti, Andrea (2022) Challenges and recommendations for wearable devices in digital health: Data quality, interoperability, health equity, fairness. [Preprint]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000104

Abstract

AU :Wearable devices arePleaseconfirmthatallheadinglevelsarerepresentedcorrectly:increasingly present in the health context, as tools for biomedical research and clinical care. In this context, wearables are considered key tools for a more digital, personalised, preventive medicine. At the same time, wearables have also been associated with issues and risks, such as those connected to privacy and data sharing. Yet, discussions in the literature have mostly focused on either technical or ethical considerations, framing these as largely separate areas of discussion, and the contribution of wearables to the collection, development, application of biomedical knowledge has only partially been discussed. To fill in these gaps, in this article we provide an epistemic (knowledgerelated) overview of the main functions of wearable technology for health: monitoring, screening, detection, and prediction. On this basis, we identify 4 areas of concern in the application of wearables for these functions: data quality, balanced estimations, health equity, and fairness. To move the field forward in an effective and beneficial direction, we present recommendations for the 4 areas: local standards of quality, interoperability, access, and representativity.

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Creators	Email	ORCID
Canali, Stefano	stefano.canali@polimi.it	0000-0002-5948-3874
Schiaffonati, Viola	viola.schiaffonati@polimi.it
Aliverti, Andrea	andrea.aliverti@polimi.it	0000-0002-2950-0231