Neurologic Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Environmental controls, Smart glasses, Activities of daily living, self-help devices, wearable technology
Brief summary
Environmental control systems are a type of assistive technology that can be controlled by a wide variety of different methods (e.g. switches) and can assist people with physical disabilities to control various electronic devices in the home. Communication aids are designed to assist people who have difficulties speaking to communicate. Both systems are designed to provide independence and potentially could have a positive effect on quality of life. The majority of communication aid and environmental control systems aimed at high end users require a screen to be mounted in front of the user. The limitations with this are that the user is only able to access their device when it has been suitably mounted in front of them. There are occasions when mounting devices in front of the user is difficult due to other considerations for example transfers in and out of a wheelchair. As smart glasses can potentially be worn at all times during the day this could provide an effective alternative solution. The purpose of this study is to explore with service users the usability and satisfaction provided by smart glasses when operating a communication aid/environmental control system. The study will achieve the above aim by undertaking a satisfaction questionnaire prior and post a 3 week trial of using smart glasses with their device. In addition an interview will be carried out with participants to explore the impact that smart glasses has had on the usability of their device. Participants will be recruited by contacting eligible patients of the NHS Lothian Environmental Control Service and communication aid service. The end point of the study will be 8 months from the start date (allowing for follow up data to be collected for anyone recruited towards the end of the 6-month recruitment period).
Interventions
DEVICEProvision of smart glasses for environmental control use
To the authors knowledge there has not been a clinical trial that includes the use of smart glasses with environmental controls. The smart glasses were used with environmental control systems that had a USB-C display output.
Sponsors
NHS Lothian
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
DEVICE_FEASIBILITY
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Existing environmental control system user (age 18-80). * Neurological condition. * Cognitive ability to answer the questions and to give consent. * Current environmental control system is compatible with smart glasses display.
Exclusion criteria
* Current environmental control system or communication aid is not compatible with smart glasses display. * Rapidly deteriorating condition
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Quest Device Score From Baseline to Post-intervention | Baseline to 3 weeks | The QUEST 2.0 is a 12-item instrument that measures user satisfaction with assistive technology devices and related services. Each item is scored from 1 to 5, where 1 indicates the lowest satisfaction and 5 indicates the highest satisfaction. The instrument includes 8 device items and 4 service items. In this study, only the 8 device items were administered because the focus was on the assistive technology device itself. The QUEST Device Score was calculated as the mean of the 8 device item scores, producing a possible total score range from 1.0 (lowest satisfaction) to 5.0 (highest satisfaction). The outcome represents the change in QUEST Device Score, defined as the difference between baseline and the score obtained at the end of the 3-week smart-glasses trial. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Participant flow
Recruitment details
Current environmental control service users of for the NHS Lothian's Environmental Control Service were screened for their eligibility for the study using a pre-defined criteria. Service users who met the requirements and were contacted by telephone to see if they wanted to take part in the study. The recruitment start date was 01/05/2024 and the recruitment end date was 04/07/2024.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | — |
|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 52.7 Years STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.3 |
| Region of Enrollment United Kingdom | 4 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 1 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 3 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk |
|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 4 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 4 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 4 |
Outcome results
None listed