- Title
- Health and activity monitoring to support the self-management of chronic diseases of lifestyle using smart devices
- Creator
- Mujuru, George Tungamirai
- Subject
- Computer vision in medicine
- Subject
- Self-care, Health Chronic diseases
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/33076
- Identifier
- vital:32516
- Description
- Chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDLs) are non-infectious medical conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. These conditions are the second leading cause of death and disease in Africa. Failure to modify primary risk factors, such as an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity and tobacco use, can give rise to intermediate risk factors such as hypertension and obesity, which predispose individuals to CDLs. The aim of the research was to investigate the use of smart devices to facilitate the self-management of health and health behaviours. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) model of health behaviour change was adopted, which focuses on the correction of modifiable risk factors. Two smart devices were selected, namely the Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Aria, which monitor specific physiological information. The Fitbit Charge 2 can determine health activity, and the Fitbit Aria can determine the weight, body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage of an individual. A field study was conducted with 22 participants (11 males and 11 females) to evaluate and determine the effectiveness of the smart devices. The participants were sampled from Nelson Mandela University staff and were aged between 30 and 60 years of age. The field study was conducted over two weeks in two one-week long phases. The first phase was used to obtain subjective data (using a lifestyle questionnaire), and objective health data (collected by the smart devices) from the participants. The purpose of the first phase was to form intentions. The second phase was the goal setting phase, where each participant was assisted in setting manageable personal goals. The results show that the smart devices used in the research could be used to provide motivation and monitor health data to support self-management of CDLs. The use of these smart devices was included in an updated HAPA model.
- Format
- xiv, 242 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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Collections
NMU School of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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