The association between wearable device metrics and clinical outcomes in oncology: A systematic review with evidence synthesis and meta-analysis

Background: The emerging study of wearable devices (WDs) in patients with cancer provides opportunities to harness real-time patient data for predicting clinical outcomes. We conducted a systematic review with best evidence synthesis to examine the association between WD metrics and clinical outcomes in patients with cancer.

Methods: MEDLINE and Embase were searched from inception until June 2022. Risk of bias assessment and best evidence synthesis were performed and, If possible, meta-analysis was conducted.

Results: A total of 34 studies was included. We found moderate-to-strong evidence for associations between circadian rest-activity metrics and OS. Disrupted I<O was associated with increased hazard for death (HR 2.08; 95 %CI: 1.50-2.88). For most associations there was insufficient evidence due to lack of studies (n = 32) or inconsistent results (n = 14).

Conclusion: Meta-analysis was greatly hampered due to heterogeneity and different methodology used between studies. Studies primarily designed to investigate the association between WD metrics and clinical outcomes are warranted.