P59 Monitoring the recovery time of children after elective tonsillectomies using commercial activity trackers, an prospective feasibility study
Authors: Lambrechtse PIP , Ziesenitz VC , Atkinson A , Bos EJ , Welzel T , Gilgen Y , Gürtler N , Cohen AF , Van Den Anker JN 
Published: May 2019

Introduction

Wearable activity trackers are increasingly incorporated into daily life and are advancing in their technology in means of accuracy, validity and acceptability,1-6 however there is deficient knowledge on using these devices in a paediatric setting. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of physical activity tracking in children7 before and after a standardized surgical intervention and to assess the recovery time after surgery.

Methods

This was a single centre, open-label, prospective feasibility study. We aimed at recruiting 24 children and adolescents 4–16 years of age undergoing elective tonsillectomy. The preoperative period was 10 days before surgery and the postoperative period was 28 days. Activity data were gathered with activity trackers.8 Reference activity was defined as the individual mean of daily steps preoperatively. Recovery time was defined as the number of days that the patient needed to reach reference activity postoperatively. The population was stratified according to age (4–7, 8–16 years).

Results

Twelve male and twelve female patients participated (mean age 6yr, mean BMI percentile 44.7). The age group 4–7 years had a mean recovery time of 11.2 days (SD 5.0) compared to 8.3 days (SD 1.7) in the age group 8–16. The difference was 2.9 days. The tracker datasets were 58% complete. The rate of technical failures of the trackers was 29.2% for the total study period.

Conclusions

Activity trackers are a potential tool viable to assess recovery time after surgery in children. Recovery time after tonsillectomy seems to be age-dependent with older children recovering faster. For future studies, we recommend using trackers as a part of assessing physical activity as a parameter of general wellbeing of child during or after an intervention. Using wearable activity trackers is a more modern and appropriate method to assess physical activity,9-14 especially in a paediatric population.

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Disclosure(s)

Nothing to disclose