University of Hawaii Consent to Participate in a Research Project
Christopher Slade, Principal Investigator
Dr. Haopeng Zhang, Dr. Peter Washington Secondary Investigators
Dr. Haopeng Zhang, Dr. Peter Washington Secondary Investigators
My name is Christopher Slade, and you are invited to participate in a research study. I am a PhD student at the University of Hawaii. In conjunction with Peter Washington and Dr. Haopeng Zhang, faculty members at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Hawaii, respectively, we are conducting a study to find a way to reduce the number of self-reports required to train artificial intelligence systems to predict your symptoms accurately.
What am I being asked to do?
If you participate in this project, you will be asked to install an app on your smartphone and to wear your smartwatch or fitness tracker. The mobile application will collect your vital and activity data from your smartwatch and upload the data to our secure server to help train an Artificial intelligence system to predict your symptoms. The study will last for three-four weeks.
If you do not own a compatible smartwatch, you may borrow an Apple Watch from the university for the duration of the study. You will be asked to sign a rental agreement and agree to return the device in reusable condition. The watch will be factory reset and sanitized before and after your use.
The application will collect the following data from your smartwatch: Heart rate, Heart rate variability (HRV), Blood oxygen levels (SpO2), Respiratory rate, Step count, Distance traveled, Active energy, resting energy, and sleep patterns.
You will be asked to report your stress level through the application by answering a few questions. Questions include “How stressed do you feel right now?”, or “I found it difficult to relax”. The application will notify you to report these symptoms up to twelve times daily during waking hours.
All collected data will be anonymized before uploading to our secure servers. We will not store any personally identifiable information in our secure servers. Offline, we will maintain your contact information if we need to contact you to check your progress or resume data collection.
Taking part in this study is your choice.
Your participation in this project is completely voluntary. You may stop participating at any time. To stop participating, delete the app from your smartphone and contact the study team to let them know you wish to stop participating.
Why is this study being done?
Our study aims to improve the artificial intelligence models that can predict symptoms. Providing reports about your symptoms can interfere with your daily life. We are seeking ways to reduce the number of times you need to report your symptoms while maintaining the accuracy of the artificial intelligence models.
What will happen if I decide to take part in this study?
You will be asked to consent to participate in the study electronically through a website. Then, we will guide you in installing the study application and ensure we can collect data from your smartwatch. We will initialize your study application. Once initialized, the study application will automatically collect your vital data and present notifications for you to report your symptoms. After the study, the study will be over, and you will be asked to complete an online survey to report on your experience in the study. The application will direct you to the survey, which you can take from your phone.
What are the risks and benefits of taking part in this study?
There are minimal risks for participation in this study. However, you may worry about this app collecting personal information. This app will never collect or upload any personally identifiable information.
There are no direct benefits to participating in this study. However, it is hoped that through your participation, researchers will learn more about training artificial intelligence models to improve possible interventions to improve overall health.
Confidentiality and Privacy
All information collected from the app will remain confidential and only be reported as group data with no identifying information. Also, data collected will never be associated with personally identifiable information throughout the study. All data will be securely stored using industry-standard technology. Other agencies that have legal permission have the right to review research records. The University of Hawai'i Human Studies Program has the right to review research records for this study.
Compensation
You will receive a small candy bar if you come in for eligibility screening. If you begin the study but do not complete it, you will receive a medium meal (valued at approximately $10–$15) at a local restaurant. If you complete the entire study, you will receive a full meal (valued at approximately $20) at a local restaurant. Restaurant selection will be finalized before disbursement.
Future Research Studies
The anonymized data (including your age, race, and gender) from this study may be published for future studies. There will be no way to connect the data to you after it is published.
Questions
If you have any questions about this study, please call or email me at 808.675.3471 or christopher.slade@byuh.edu. You may also contact my faculty advisor, Dr. Peter Washington, at pyw@hawaii.edu, or Dr. Haopeng Zhang at haopengz@hawaii.edu. You may contact the UH Human Studies Program at 808-956-5007 or uhirb@hawaii.edu to discuss problems, concerns, and questions, obtain information, or offer input with an informed individual unaffiliated with the specific research protocol. Please visit http://go.hawaii.edu/jRd for more information on your rights as a research participant.