Assessment of Mobility Trajectories Using Wearable Inertial Sensors During Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplant.

This was an observational study, not a treatment trial. It cannot show that wearable sensor assessment or pretransplant gait limitation causes later disability, and it cannot show that any intervention improves outcomes. Only 78 of 101 enrolled patients completed pretransplant mobility testing, and 68% of possible weekly in-hospital assessments were completed. Feeling too ill was the most common reason for missing data. Post-engraftment objective mobility was available for only a subset of 23 local patients. These patients may not represent all patients. The sickest or most fatigued patients may have been missing from the mobility data. Their mobility values are unknown. The study could not assess mobility before conditioning chemotherapy. It cannot identify when decline began. Provider-rated function was collected in routine care using KPS or ECOG, chosen by the provider, rather than one fixed outcome measure. Two authors are employees of the company that makes the sensor system used in the study. The planned fall-prediction analysis was not completed because few falls were reported.

The article metadata lists NIH extramural research support. Two authors are employees of APDM, Inc, the company that makes Mobility Lab. Oregon Health & Science University reviewed and managed this potential conflict. The other authors have nothing to declare.

Do not conclude that wearable sensors or pretransplant gait testing will improve patient outcomes. This study did not assign or test a treatment, and many patients who were too ill did not complete mobility assessments, so it shows an association rather than a treatment effect.