Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Using Wearable Device to Measure Resident Wellness, Prevent Burnout: Study

by Iswarya on Sep 19 2020 1:43 PM

Using Wearable Device to Measure Resident Wellness, Prevent Burnout: Study
New study is examining whether a wearable device can measure wellness and predict burnout among resident physicians. The researchers at Penn State College of Medicine are conducting the study. The clinical trial results could be used to provide targeted interventions for depression and burnout in graduate medical education.
Training to become a doctor can be quite stressful, and that interventions are essential to address the growing rates of depression and burnout in residents and other medical professionals, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, states Dr. Alexander Hajduczok, a third-year internal medicine and principal investigator for the study.

“Prior studies have reported that depression and burnout in residents can raise medical errors and worsen patient outcomes,” says Hajduczok. “We hope that the information we collect from the study could help us recognize stress triggers and develop interventions to aid residents to cope with those challenges.”

The study recruited 38 internal medicine residents, and the participants were given a device to wear manufactured by WHOOP for one year. The device will measure their heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep, and other physiologic data. The research team will compare the data collected by the device to subjective assessments of wellness and burnout received in weekly surveys to detect if physiologic trends in the data align with how residents report they feel. If signs of stress are indicated during the study in the residents’ results, appropriate health care means will be implemented.

Researchers will especially evaluate heart rate variability (HRV), the fluctuation in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats.

Hajduczok believes that the results from the study will lead to an improved understanding of the most challenging and stressful parts of residency so that actions to prevent depression and burnout can be taken.

Source-Medindia


Advertisement