Exploring the usefulness of real-time digitally supported fatigue monitoring in fatigue management: Perspectives from occupational therapists and brain injury survivors.
Leisle Ezekiel, Harriet Wilding, Jeremy Dearling and 2 others
PMID 40337636WHAT IT FOUND
Ten brain injury survivors and five occupational therapists found real-time digital fatigue monitoring raised awareness but was hard to interpret.
Survivors struggled with data accuracy, while therapists faced time and skill barriers to using these summaries in clinical practice.
Key findings
01Participants found self-monitoring raised awareness of fatigue and activity, but often did not reveal information that was completely new to them.
02Survivors frequently questioned the reliability of the data when it contradicted their recall of events, leading to dissonance between the digital summary and their lived experience.
03Occupational therapists identified significant barriers to clinical use, including the time required to interpret complex data and a lack of necessary data literacy skills.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and not representative of the wider population. None of the participants were from an ethnic minority group, and all were several years post-injury with established coping strategies. One participant withdrew due to technical difficulties, and others struggled to view their data summaries online, which may have influenced the interview results. The occupational therapist participants were predominantly senior practitioners with specific expertise in fatigue management, so the findings may not reflect the experiences of therapists less familiar with this area or with digital tools. This study explored perceptions and usability; it did not test whether this approach actually improves fatigue management outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study was funded by a Royal College of Occupational Therapists researcher development award and supported by the University of Southampton. Two authors receive support from NIHR Biomedical Research Centres.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the participants' positive feedback on the monitoring process as evidence that digital fatigue management improves clinical outcomes. The study only explored perceptions of usability and found significant barriers to implementation, such as data interpretation difficulties and lack of time.