Can wearables decode the mystery of fatigue?
NCT ID NCT05622669
First seen Aug 31, 2026 · Last updated Sep 01, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are using wearable sensors and smartphone check-ins to track fatigue as it happens in people with myeloma, long COVID, heart failure, and healthy controls. Participants wear an ECG patch and a wrist sensor that measure heart rate, activity, and posture, and they rate their fatigue several times a day. The study aims to understand how fatigue fluctuates and what physical signals might accompany it, which could lead to better ways to measure and manage this common symptom.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Wearable sensors (ECG patch and wrist-worn device) and self-reported fatigue ratings, with no drug or behavioral intervention
- What this could lead to
- If this works, it could reveal distinct fatigue patterns across conditions and point toward better ways to measure and manage fatigue in daily life.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small observational study, so findings may not apply broadly. Wearable data and self-reports can be noisy, and the study does not test any treatment.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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40 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Dec 2021
- Finished
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Jan 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Participants will be selected from the community and from hospital haematology and cardiology clinics
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * For all groups, participants will be included if they are willing to participate in intermittent ecological momentary assessments of fatigue, to wear an ECG patch, to provide questionnaire responses at baseline, and the end of the study, and to participate in an end of study interview. Inclusion Criteria for Group A, individuals with myeloma * A confirmed diagnosis of myeloma * Has experienced fatigue that is perceived by the participant to be worse than "normal tiredness" and that they associate with myeloma or treatment for myeloma Inclusion Criteria for Group B, heart failure * A formal diagnosis of heart failure * All stages of heart failure and all aetiologies and with no specific ejection fraction cut-off * Has experienced fatigue that is perceived by the participant to be worse than "normal tiredness" and that they associate with their cardiac disease or its treatment Inclusion Criteria for Group C, long COVID * Experiencing fatigue that is perceived by the participant to be worse than "normal tiredness", with or without other physical or psychological symptoms that developed during or after an infection consistent with COVID-19 * The fatigue (plus or minus any other symptoms) has continued for greater or equal to 12 weeks, and is not explained by an alternative diagnosis Inclusion criteria for Group D, control group • Individuals aged 18 years or over without the disease conditions specified in Groups A to C Exclusion Criteria: * Exclusion Criteria Applying to all participants: * Difficulty communicating in English * Adults lacking capacity to consent * Under 18 years of age * Declines to participate * Under investigation for or starting treatment for an endocrine, metabolic, or thyroid condition where the participant has not been established on a stable therapeutic dose of a licensed therapy for that condition * A confirmed diagnosis of sleep apnoea or narcolepsy * HADs depression and anxiety score at baseline greater than 8 on the depression questions, which might indicate untreated or undertreated depression * Shift work that involves overnight working between the hours of 9pm and 9am We will not exclude patient participants in groups A to C based on the type of prescribed medications that they are taking. Instead, this will be carefully documented. For Group A, myeloma * Uncontrolled hypercalcaemia * Current or previous diagnosis of heart failure or long COVID * An active primary cancer diagnosis other than myeloma Group B Heart Failure * A current or previous diagnosis of myeloma or long COVID * Active cancer Group C, long COVID * A current or previous diagnosis of myeloma or heart failure * Active cancer Group D, Control group * Presence of myeloma or another active cancer, heart failure, or long COVID * One or more chronic medical conditions which are unstable, poorly controlled, AND perceived by the individual to be causing fatigue * Persistent or severe fatigue symptoms that are perceived by the individual to be worse than "normal tiredness" * Taking sedating medications to manage anxiety or insomnia including but not limited to benzodiazepines or "Z" drugs, zopiclone, zolpidem, and others in this British National Formulary Class.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen, UK, AB25 2ZD, United Kingdom
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