Perspectives and recommendations of individuals with tetraplegia regarding wearable cameras for monitoring hand function at home: Insights from a community-based study

CONTEXT: Wearable cameras have great potential for producing novel outcome measures of upper limb (UL) function and guiding care in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI) living in the community. However, little is known about the perspectives of individuals with cSCI on the potential adoption of this technology. OBJECTIVE: To analyze feedback from individuals with cSCI regarding the use of wearable cameras to record daily activities at home, in order to define guidelines for improving the design of this technology and fostering its implementation to optimize UL rehabilitation. DESIGN: Mixed-methods study. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen adults with cSCI C3-C8 AIS A-D impairment. MEASURES: Interview including survey and semi-structured questions. RESULTS: Participants felt that this technology can provide naturalistic information regarding hand use to clinicians and researchers, which in turn can lead to better assessments of UL function and optimized therapies. Participants described the technology as easy-to-use but often reported discomfort that prevented them from conducting long recordings of fully natural activities. Privacy concerns included the possibility to capture household members and personal information displayed on objects (e.g. smartphones). CONCLUSION: We provide the first set of guidelines to help researchers and therapists understand which steps need to be taken to translate wearable cameras into outpatient care and community-based research for UL rehabilitation. These guidelines include miniaturized and easy-to-wear cameras, as well as multiple measures for preventing privacy concerns such as avoiding public spaces and providing control over the recordings (e.g. start and stop the recordings at any time, keep or delete a recording).