First Results of a Prospective Cohort Study Assessing the Applicability of Step Counts as a Digital Mobility Outcome in Trauma Surgery – a Brief Report

The individual and socio-economic burden of delayed rehabilitation after a fracture is high. Early identification of patients with critical healing processes and timely intervention are key factors for successful treatment management. The aim of this study was to demonstrate how step counts, collected via patient-owned wearables, can assist in identifying critical recovery trajectories.The study included 56 patients who already had a wearable device. Data on age, gender, injury type, PROMIS - Global Health 10 score at 3 months, and work ability at 3 months were collected. Step counts were recorded both before and after the injury.Data from 56 patients were analysed. Postoperative healing was reliably monitored using the patients' own wearables for both upper and lower extremities. Significant differences in daily step counts were observed between patients with normal healing and those with delayed rehabilitation. Significant differences were also found in step counts between patients who regained work ability within 3 months and those who did not. PROMIS surveys conducted after 3 months revealed significant differences between daily step counts in patients above the 80th percentile compared to those below the 20th percentile.The analysis demonstrates that monitoring healing progress with patient-owned wearables can effectively estimate the risk of delayed recovery and prolonged work disability, as based on easily accessible personal activity data. Further refinement of the technology and inclusion of additional patients with defined injury types could help identify trauma patients in need of additional care during treatment. Early and targeted interventions could enable a return to pre-injury activity levels and reduce the duration of work disability.