Rhodora Therese Torres
Real-World Assessment of Gait and Sleep for Early Identification of Pain Flares in People With Knee Osteoarthritis
Abstract
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability, with unpredictable pain flares that cause significant distress and costs. Real-time identification of flares could enable early, targeted pharmacologic and behavioral interventions that empower long-term self-management. This fully remote study will use wearable sensors and daily text-based reports to monitor gait, sleep, pain, and analgesic use in 100 people with symptomatic knee OA for 8 weeks. Aim 1 will determine associations between real-world gait and sleep patterns and both threshold-based and patient-defined pain flares. Aim 2 will assess how pain flares are associated with analgesic use, a meaningful indicator of pain burden. Aim 3 will explore patient perspectives on a digital just-in-time intervention for self-management. By integrating digital health data with patient experiences, this project will inform patient-centered precision strategies for timely, personalized OA pain flare management.
I am honored and grateful to receive this award. This supports my growth as a researcher and my goal of improving patient outcomes through patient-centered, real-world, digital health research, particularly for people with knee osteoarthritis.
