Understanding Spinal Cord Stimulation in Daily Life: Data Collection Via Smartwatch, Patient Questionnaires, and Stimulation Settings

Kurzzusammenfassung

This study investigates how people do in everyday life after they receive spinal cord stimulation (SCS), a treatment used for long-term back and leg pain that has not improved with other treatments. Participants will already be scheduled to have this treatment as part of their normal medical care, whether or not they take part in the study. People who join the study will wear a smartwatch that records parameters like step count, heart rate, sleep quality, and activity level, starting about 2 to 4 weeks before their surgery and continuing for 12 months afterward. They will also answer short questionnaires about their pain, mood, and quality of life through a study app/website, and will receive educational information about their condition and their stimulation device. In addition, the settings of the implanted stimulation device will be recorded at the same time points. The goal is to see whether the information collected from the smartwatch and the questionnaires is related to the settings of the stimulation device and to how well people are doing over time. This may help doctors better understand how SCS affects daily life, and could help improve how patients are followed up and selected for this treatment in the future.