Attitudes of pregnant women toward wearable technology: an observational
cross-sectional survey study
Abstract
Objective: Telemedicine has advanced to the forefront of healthcare
delivery, including maternal-fetal medicine. Smart wearable
electrocardiogram (ECG) devices can enable pregnant women to monitor
their health and that of their fetuses. Such technology would be a
logical extension of the telemedicine ecosystem. However, it is not
known how pregnant women perceive the ability to use such technologies.
Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Setting: Online survey in
the United States in 2019. Population: A representative sample of 507
women aged 18-45 were polled from 45 states. Methods: Study participants
were recruited using the SurveyMonkey Audience Polling system and
responded virtually. Main Outcome Measures: Women were asked to identify
willingness to use a wearable ECG device the size of a patch-sized large
band-aid on their abdomen. Ten binary or multiple-choice questions were
used to gauge population interest and related demographics towards the
usage of a wearable ECG device. Results: 91% of women expecting to
become pregnant in the next five years accept wearable ECG technology as
a mechanism for increased frequency of monitoring of maternal and fetal
health throughout the pregnancy outside the hospital. 78% of women
demonstrated a willingness to wear devices day and night or at least
during sleep and 42% of women would spend up to $200 on such a device.
Conclusions: Even though conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this
study clearly indicates a high degree of readiness of prospective
pregnant women for telemedicine with continuous health monitoring of the
mother-fetus dyad during the entire antepartum period.