BACKGROUND: Self-monitoring of physical activity (PA) using an accelerometer is a promising intervention to stimulate PA after hospital discharge.OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of PA self-monitoring after discharge in patients who have undergone gastrointestinal or lung cancer surgery.METHODS: A mixed methods study was conducted in which 41 patients with cancer scheduled for lobectomy, esophageal resection, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy were included. Preoperatively, patients received an ankle-worn accelerometer and the corresponding mobile health app to familiarize themselves with its use. The use was continued for up to 6 weeks after surgery. Feasibility criteria related to the study procedures, the System Usability Scale, and user experiences were established. In addition, 6 patients were selected to participate in semistructured interviews.RESULTS: The percentage of patients willing to participate in the study (68/90, 76%) and the final participation rate (57/90, 63%) were considered good. The retention rate was acceptable (41/57, 72%), whereas the rate of missing accelerometer data was relatively high (31%). The mean System Usability Scale score was good (77.3). Interviewed patients mentioned that the accelerometer and app were easy to use, motivated them to be more physically active, and provided postdischarge support. The technical shortcomings and comfort of the ankle straps should be improved.CONCLUSIONS: Self-monitoring of PA after discharge appears to be feasible based on good system usability and predominantly positive user experiences in patients with cancer after lobectomy, esophageal resection, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Solving technical problems and improving the comfort of the ankle strap may reduce the number of dropouts and missing data in clinical use and follow-up studies.
"Sociologist of education Annette Lareau is renowned in her field for her compassionate ethnographic work and the insightful ideas she's able to draw from it. With Listening to People, she has given us an extremely practical guide to doing the kind of work she has been celebrated for. Lareau covers just about everything a social scientist needs to know--formulating a topic and honing it down to a good research question, obtaining IRB approval, finding a site and making introductions, conducting high-quality interviews and participant--observation, taking good notes and writing them up later, analyzing the data, and best of all, making clear how much the data analysis and the writing are part of the same process. Her tone throughout is about as straightforward as it gets, and she very generously shares stories of her own mistakes, missteps, and anxieties. Written for students and scholars in sociology, education, communications, social work, and possibly political science, anthropology, and related fields, the book will be an indispensable guide for graduate students and faculty in the social sciences (broadly conceived), and is even suitable for undergraduates"-- Provided by publisher.
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Patients undergoing major surgery are at risk of complications and delayed recovery. Prehabilitation has shown promise in improving postoperative outcomes. Offering prehabilitation by means of mHealth can help overcome barriers to participating in prehabilitation and empower patients prior to major surgery. We developed the Be Prepared mHealth app, which has shown potential in an earlier pilot study.
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