Quantified-self for obesity: Physical activity behaviour sensing to improve health outcomes from surgery for severe obesity

人们普遍认为，体育锻炼会影响严重肥胖症患者的减肥结果，但在这一问题上缺乏强有力的研究。我们建议使用智能手机传感器和先进的数据挖掘技术来进行详细的调查，以解决这一重要问题。研究参与者将是接受减肥手术(如胃旁路手术)的肥胖者，但我们的结果也将使其他有体重问题的人和其他有运动帮助的患者受益。2010年，英格兰略高于四分之一的成年人被归类为肥胖者。这一群体更有可能患有一系列疾病(例如2型糖尿病)，预期寿命更短。对于那些对其他疗法没有反应的严重和复杂肥胖者，建议进行手术，在实现减肥、克服相关疾病和促进长期健康方面具有极高的成本效益。然而，长期的成功还远未得到保证，高达15%的胃旁路手术和50%的胃束带手术最终都不成功。肥胖者通常在手术前和手术后都过着久坐的生活。研究表明，即使是长期小幅增加日常体力活动也可能对减肥非常重要，所以我们对如何激励人们在日常生活中多做一点非常感兴趣。帝国体重中心(IWC)的患者在去医院就诊时会被提醒要锻炼，但他们最理想的是每天都需要私人教练来鼓励他们。意识到这一点，患者们问我们是否有任何设备可以帮助我们，所以我们开始研究传感器和手机如何能够无缝地跟踪活动，并提供及时的个性化反馈和鼓励。IWC的患者已经尝试过耐克Fuelband等腕带-尽管一开始很热情，但新鲜感很快就消失了。这些设备不能提供足够详细或有意义的信息。MyFitnessPal等智能手机应用程序也很受欢迎，但很快就变得单调乏味，因为用户必须记录他们吃的或做的一切：许多人尝试这些应用程序时都没有坚持几天以上。随着新应用程序的出现，现在只需携带智能手机，使用内置传感器，就可以轻松跟踪身体活动。数据在“互联网云”中处理，在那里可以通过我们正在开发的新软件进行分析。这些应用程序还生成了一个完整的每日“故事情节”，详细说明了用户的旅行，以及每个地点的活动数量和类型。我们的试点用户很高兴能够看到他们的体力活动进展，并表示他们感到有动力挑战自己，每天做更多的事情。这个项目旨在每天客观地监测体力活动，以便我们可以跟踪近1000名患者的长时间段和他们的减肥旅程。我们将使用先进的数据挖掘工具来了解在体力活动方面的个体差异和对手术的反应，以及这些与减肥和随着时间的推移保持体重的关系。我们将利用我们对行为改变方法的分析和理解来设计方法，鼓励用户做得更好，从而实现更长和更健康的寿命。例如，个性化提示可以结合天气和位置信息，建议在晴天适合散步，支持积极的目标设定，或激发与其他用户的竞争。该项目将为进一步的行为研究铺平道路，例如使用新兴的可穿戴传感器技术，并将为肥胖者和其他有许多不同类型健康问题的人提供长期好处，在运动有帮助的情况下-生活方式建议和建议将对寻求优化健康的个人更加个性化和有用。

It is widely assumed that physical activity affects weight loss outcomes for severely obese patients, but there is a scarcity of robust research on this subject. We propose to use smartphone sensors and advanced data mining techniques to conduct detailed investigations addressing this important question. The research participants will be obese people having bariatric (or weight-loss) surgery (e.g. gastric bypass), but our results will also benefit other people with weight problems and patients with other conditions where exercise is helpful.In England just over a quarter of adults were classified as obese in 2010. This group is more likely to suffer from a range of illnesses (e.g. type-2 diabetes) and to have a lower life expectancy. Surgery is recommended for those with severe and complex obesity that has not responded to other therapies, and is highly cost effective in achieving weight loss, overcoming associated illnesses and promoting longer term health. However long-term success is far from guaranteed, with up to 15% of gastric bypass and 50% of gastric band procedures being ultimately unsuccessful. Obese people often lead very sedentary lives, both before and after surgery. Research has shown that even small long-term increases in routine physical activity could be very significant for weight loss, so we are very interested in how we can motivate people to do that little bit more in their daily lives.Patients attending the Imperial Weight Centre (IWC) are reminded to exercise during their hospital visits, but what they ideally need is a personal trainer to encourage them every day. Recognising this, patients have asked us if there are any devices that can help, and so we began our research into how sensors and mobile phones can seamlessly track activity and deliver timely, personalised feedback and encouragement.IWC Patients have tried wristbands such as the Nike Fuelband - but despite initial enthusiasm the novelty soon wears off. These devices do not provide sufficiently detailed or meaningful information. Smartphone apps such as MyFitnessPal are also popular, but soon become tedious since users must log everything they eat or do: many trying them did not persevere for more than a few days. With the advent of new apps it is now possible to track physical activity effortlessly just by carrying around one's smartphone, using its inbuilt sensors. Data is processed in the "internet cloud" where it can be analysed by new software we are developing. These apps also produce a complete daily "storyline" detailing a user's travels, and the amount and type of activity at each location. Our pilot users have been delighted to be able to see their physical activity progress and said that they felt motivated to challenge themselves to do more each day.This project sets out to objectively monitor physical activites on a daily basis so that we can follow almost 1000 patients over protracted periods of time and throughout their weight loss journey. We will use advanced data mining tools to understand individual differences and responses to surgery in terms of physical activity and how these relate to weight loss and weight maintenance over time. We shall use our analysis and understanding of behaviour change methods to devise ways to encourage users to do better and thereby achieve longer and healthier lives. For example, individualised prompts could incorporate weather and location information to suggest suitable walks on fine days, support positive goal setting or inspire competition with other users. This project will pave the way for further behavioural studies, for example using emerging wearable-sensor technologies and should offer long-term benefits for obese people and others with many different types of health problems, where exercise helps - lifestyle recommendations and advice can be produced that will be more personalised and useful for individuals looking to optimise their health.