ResearchKit arrives at version 1.5 with improvements and a question: has the initiative been useful?

Apple's health research initiative, the ResearchKit, has just received a major update, bringing new ways for researchers to collect patient data from the iPhone and / or Apple Watch.

After two years, ResearchKit has now arrived verse 1.5, bringing new “Active tasks”, “Steps” and other features developed by both Apple and the open community.

In one of the steps, the possibility of adding an instructional video was added so that the patient / user can perform the tasks exactly as expected by the researchers. In addition, there was also an improvement in the active task of pure tone audiometry, which now allows the patient to not only indicate whether he heard a sound, but on which side he heard (right or left).

ResearchKit 1.5 active tasks

Other new active tasks include: "Stroop", which tests the focus (selective attention) of patients; “Trail Making” (“Trails”), which measures visual attention; and “Range of Motion” (“Range of motion”), which measures the length of the shoulders and knees, both flexed and extended with the help of the accelerometer and gyroscope.

Has the initiative been useful for professionals?

Apple's intention in bringing the ResearchKit was that any health professional could obtain sufficient data for their large-scale research since anyone could perform the tests from their iPhones.

Since then, Ma has been highlighting the great news brought by the initiative, and how the community of researchers and health professionals has benefited from it. Still, the Healthcare IT News stated that opinions on adaptation have been divided.

For example, STAT He mentioned that ResearchKit has the potential to become very useful for healthcare researchers. In addition, one of the researchers who launched two apps with the help of framework are you surprised to be able to obtain external data in your research, such as climate, air quality, etc.

However, there are those who think that the initiative is less than it could be. Matthew Amsden, CEO of ProofPilot, a company that conducts research studies, said that the initiative is still "far from being useful to the medical community", in addition to not being able to solve the marketing and management problems that affect the world of search.

Even with Apple's powerful communication engine, most studies involving ResearchKit ended up with few users and high wear rates, as many consumer applications do. The asthma study published in Nature Research had a 2% completion rate, making it impossible to create widespread information.

Amsden further suggested that, if Apple really wants to overcome this, it would need to teach researchers how to create good apps, so that they can stand out among the various existing apps, so that they attract more participants.

Apple has several health programs and is improving even more. Diverging opinions are good; in this way, the company is more careful and does not remain in the sphere of convenience.

via Cult of Mac