Accuracy of Smartphone Applications and Wearable Devices for Tracking Physical Activity Data
Abstract
Underlying differences in device accuracy may be compounded in these measures.Our study is limited by being conducted with young, healthy volunteers in a controlled setting with a convenience sample of a small number of applications and devices.Results should be confirmed in other settings and with other devices.Increased physical activity facilitated by these devices could lead to clinical benefits not realized by low adoption of pedometers.Our findings may help reinforce individuals' trust in using smartphone applications and wearable devices to track health behaviors, which could have important implications for strategies to improve population health.
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Research has shown that an accelerometer installed on smartphones is accurate for tracking step count and that GPS signals can be used to estimate activity levels.
“For instance, research has shown that an accelerometer installed on smartphones is accurate for tracking step count [9] and that GPS signals can be used to estimate activity levels [87].”
Research has shown variation in step count among devices, and the applicability of metrics may vary by device brand and device type.
“However, research has shown variation in step count among devices, and the applicability of these metrics may vary by device brand and device type [6].”
From Reliability and Validity of Commercially Available Wearable Devices for Measuring Steps, Energy Expenditure, and Heart Rate: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [6]
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- Authors
- Case, M. A., Burwick, H. A., Volpp, K. G., & Patel, M. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Amherst College (US)
- Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- JAMA
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2015-02-10
- Volume
- 313
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 625
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- 0098-7484
- OpenAlex
- W1975984765
- Cited by
- 694
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 93 · 2019: 77 · 2018: 84 · 2017: 95 · 2016: 75 · 2015: 34
- FWCI
- 70.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- National Institute on Aging (AG039114, RC4AG039114)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
- Keywords
- physical activity monitoring, mobile application, wearable devices, device accuracy, pedometers, step counting, health behavior monitoring
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Humans, Motor Activity, Prospective Studies, Exercise, Walking, Cell Phone, Actigraphy, Mobile Applications
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