ArticleDigital health
Technology-assisted behavioral intervention to encourage prehabilitation in frail older adults undergoing surgery: Development and design of the BeFitMe™ Apple Watch app.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prehabilitation for cancer surgery: a systematic review of qualitative literature from experienced stakeholders.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of digital health interventions in older adults with frailty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Review
- Knowledge, Practice and Barriers to Exercise Rehabilitation Among Chinese Patients with Acute Musculoskeletal Injury: A Mixed-Methods Study.International journal of general medicine · 2026Article
- Wearable Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older Adults: Systematic Scoping Review and Evidence Map.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Patient Education on Exercise Prehabilitation Among Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Therapy for Cancer Surgery in China: A Mixed-Methods Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators to smartwatch-based prehabilitation participation among frail surgery patients: a qualitative study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Objective: Increasing the physical activity of frail, older patients before surgery through prehabilitation (prehab) can hasten return to autonomy and reduce complications postoperatively. However, prehab participation is low in the clinical setting. In this study, we re-design an existing prehab smartphone application (BeFitMe™) using a novel standalone Apple Watch platform to increase accessibility and usability for vulnerable patients. Methods: Design Science Research Methodology was used to (1) develop an approach to clinical research using standalone Apple Watches, (2) re-design BeFitMe™ for the Apple Watch platform, and (3) incorporate user feedback into app design. In phase 3, beta and user testers gave feedback via a follow-up phone call. Exercise data was extracted from the watch after testing. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize accessibility and usability. Results: BeFitMe™ was redesigned for the Apple Watch with full functionality without requiring patients to have an iPhone or internet connectivity and the ability to passively collect exercise data without patient interaction. Three study staff participated in beta testing over 3 weeks. Six randomly chosen thoracic surgery patients participated in user testing over 12 weeks. Feedback from beta and user testers was addressed with updated software (versions 1.0-1.10), improved interface and notification schemes, and the development of educational materials used during enrollment. The majority of users (5/6, 83%) participated by responding to at least one notification and data was able to be collected for 54/82 (68%) of the days users had the watches. The amount of data collected in BeFitMe™ Watch app increased from 2/11 (16%) days with the first patient tester to 13/13 (100%) days with the final patient tester. Conclusions: The BeFitMe™ Watch app is accessible and usable. The BeFitMe™ Watch app may help older patients, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds with fewer resources, participate in prehab prior to surgery.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.