{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T00:51:25Z","timestamp":1759971085627,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759881600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Complex chronic illnesses like Long Covid (LC) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis\/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME\/CFS) are marked by fluctuating symptoms, often exacerbated by physical, cognitive, or emotional exertion in a phenomenon known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). Home monitoring technologies offer potential benefits by enabling individuals to track symptoms and biometrics, aiding in disease self-management. However, the general effectiveness of such tools is still unknown.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A random sample of users of the Visible mobile application (Visible Plus; requires both the armband and paid subscription), aged 18 or older and with self-identified complex chronic illnesses such as LC or ME\/CFS, were invited to complete an online survey regarding the impact of the app on their chronic disease self-management. Descriptive statistics related to the responses were analyzed and reported.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The survey was distributed to 2,636 people, with 1,301 participants responding (49.3% response rate). The average age was 46 years. 82% of respondents were female, 8% were male, 8% were non-binary, and 2% preferred not to say or preferred to self-describe. Participants self-identified as having ME\/CFS only (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009534, 42%), LC only (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009396, 31%), ME\/CFS and LC (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009236, 18%), or another illness (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u2009122, 10%). Of the <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20092,636 randomly selected subscribers, the mostly commonly listed \u201cother illnesses\u201d were Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS, 6%), fibromyalgia (5.2%), Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS; 1.7%) and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS, 1.2%). Of those with at least 30 days of data, 77% reported seeing an improvements associated with app use, corresponding to 23% of all invited users, 85% (corresponding to 29% of all invited users) reported feeling somewhat (53%) or significantly (32%), and 94% (corresponding to 33% of all invited users) reported a better understanding of their energy budget.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Home-monitoring based mobile applications are feasible and acceptable for a motivated subgroup of people with energy-limiting complex chronic illnesses, and are associated with self-reported benefits in energy management and participation in daily activities. The findings of this study should be interpreted as descriptive and hypothesis-generating and do not represent clinically significant effects, underscoring the need for randomized controlled trials to formally evaluate efficacy. Future studies should incorporate a comparison group to better differentiate intervention effects from improvements gained through lived experience.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2025.1662255","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]],"date-time":"2025-10-08T12:27:16Z","timestamp":1759926436000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wearable technology in the management of complex chronic illness: preliminary survey results on self-reported outcomes"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Abbey","family":"Sawyer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rory","family":"Preston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Harry","family":"Leeming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luke","family":"Martin-Fuller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amy","family":"Proal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Putrino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1080\/21641846.2021.1905415","article-title":"Dissecting the nature of post-exertional malaise","volume":"9","author":"Hartle","year":"2021","journal-title":"Fatigue: Biomed Health Behav"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0197811","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0197811","article-title":"Deconstructing post-exertional malaise in myalgic encephalomyelitis\/ chronic fatigue syndrome: a patient-centered, cross-sectional survey","volume":"13","author":"Chu","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e15595","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2023.e15595","article-title":"Myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS): a preliminary survey among patients in Switzerland","volume":"9","author":"Tschopp","year":"2023","journal-title":"Heliyon"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1089\/tmj.2019.0066","article-title":"Remote patient monitoring: a systematic review","volume":"26","author":"Farias","year":"2020","journal-title":"Telemed J E Health"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1215","DOI":"10.3390\/life11111215","article-title":"Effectiveness of telemonitoring for respiratory and systemic symptoms of asthma and COPD: a narrative review Life","volume":"11","author":"Metting","year":"2021","journal-title":"Life (Basel)"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcf.2019.09.002","article-title":"A smartphone application for reporting symptoms in adults with cystic fibrosis improves the detection of exacerbations: results of a randomised controlled trial","volume":"19","author":"Wood","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Cyst Fibros"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e42","DOI":"10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000803","article-title":"Self-measured blood pressure monitoring at home: a joint policy statement from the American Heart Association and American Medical Association","volume":"142","author":"Shimbo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"438","DOI":"10.1089\/tmj.2018.0248","article-title":"Telehealth intervention programs for seniors: an observational study of a community-embedded health monitoring initiative","volume":"26","author":"Hamilton","year":"2020","journal-title":"Telemed J E Health"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e000103","DOI":"10.1161\/HCQ.0000000000000103","article-title":"Harnessing mobile health technology for secondary cardiovascular disease prevention in older adults: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association","volume":"14","author":"Schorr","year":"2021","journal-title":"Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e071428","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2022-071428","article-title":"Digital home monitoring for capturing daily fluctuation of symptoms; 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