Labs Without Walls: Protocol Describing the Research Design and Methods of an App and Smart Watch Based Study Exploring Micro-Longitudinal Aging (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Traditional longitudinal ageing research involves studying the same individuals over a long period of time, with measurement intervals typically several years apart. App-based studies have the potential to provide new insights into processes of life-course ageing by improving the accessibility, temporal specificity, and real-world integration of data collection. We have developed a new research app for iOS named Labs Without Walls to facilitate the study of life-course ageing. Combined with data collected using paired Smart Watches, the research app can collect complex data regarding life-course ageing, including one-time surveys, repeated surveys for intensive longitudinal analysis, repeated game-like cognitive and sensory tasks, and passive health and environmental data. OBJECTIVE The aim of this protocol is to describe the research design and methods of the Labs Without Walls pilot study conducted between 2021-2023 in Australia. METHODS A total of 240 Australian adults will be recruited stratified by age- (18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, 56-65, 66-75, 76-85) and sex-at-birth characteristics (male, female). Recruitment procedures include emails to university and community networks, as well as paid and unpaid social media advertisements. Participants will be invited to complete study on-boarding either in-person or remotely by following in-app instructions. Participants who select face-to-face on-boarding (n ~ 40) will be invited to complete traditional in-person cognitive and sensory assessments to be cross-validated against their app-based counterparts. Participants will be posted an Apple Watch and headphones for use during the study period. Participants will complete informed consent within the app, followed by an 8-week study protocol including scheduled surveys, cognitive and sensory tasks and passive data collected using the app and paired smart watch. At the conclusion of the study period, participants will be invited to rate the acceptability and usability of the study app and smart watch. RESULTS The study is ongoing, and the publication of preliminary results is anticipated at the end of 2023. CONCLUSIONS The study will provide evidence regarding the acceptability and usability of the bespoke research app and paired smart watches for studying life-course ageing processes on micro timescales. Feedback obtained will be used to improve future iterations of the app; to explore preliminary evidence for intra-individual variability in self-perceptions of ageing and gender expression across the adult lifespan; and to explore the associations between performance on app-based and traditional administrations of common cognitive and sensory tests. CLINICALTRIAL https://osf.io/7n2bv