Empowering patients: A multimodal digital health technology survey of patients with neurogenerative disorders and immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

Objective In an era where digital devices become increasingly available, passive and active capturing of patient data during their everyday life becomes possible. However, it is still unclear to what extent people with chronic diseases are willing to use digital health technology (DHT) to assess study-relevant endpoints. The aim of the present study was therefore to determine such acceptance rates for clinical studies and which type of DHT patients prefer. Methods A survey with 492 people with Parkinson's disease (64 ± 11 years, 41% female) and 75 people with an immune-mediated inflammatory disease (58 ± 15 years, 99% female) was conducted. Results The vast majority of people (93%) were willing to use at least two devices simultaneously during a clinical study. Two-thirds indicated that they would use DHT for ≥6 days following a visit in the context of a study. The appearance of the device turned out to be important as the most popular devices were smartwatches, whereas more complex DHT, clearly recognisable as medical-grade were least popular. The effects of gender, age and disease could be detected, such as, for example, a tendency for men to be willing to use more devices simultaneously than women. Conclusion Overall, our findings suggest a willingness among individuals with Parkinson's disease and immune-mediated inflammatory disease to engage in clinical studies involving DHT. It is also evident that elderly patients can be integrated into these studies provided that the participation demands are aligned with clinical imperatives and the devices are user friendly.