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Wearable activity trackers, accuracy, adoption, acceptance and health impact: A systematic literature review
Open accessAbstract
Wearable activity trackers (WAT) are electronic monitoring devices that enable users to track and monitor their health-related physical fitness metrics including steps taken, level of activity, walking distance, heart rate, and sleep patterns. Despite the proliferation of these devices in various contexts of use and rising research interests, there is limited understanding of the broad research landscape. The purpose of this systematic review is therefore to synthesize the existing wealth of research on WAT, and to provide a comprehensive summary based on common themes and approaches. This article includes academic work published between 2013 and 2017 in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library, and Google Scholar. A final list of 463 articles was analyzed for this review. Topic modeling methods were used to identify six key themes (topics) of WAT research, namely: (1) Technology Focus, (2) Patient Treatment and Medical Settings, (3) Behavior Change, (4) Acceptance and Adoption (Abandonment), (5) Self-monitoring Data Centered, and (6) Privacy. We take an interdisciplinary approach to wearable activity trackers to propose several new research questions. The most important research gap we identify is to attempt to understand the rich human-information interaction that is enabled by WAT adoption.
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“Wearable devices hold great promise, particularly for data generation for cutting-edge health research, and their demand has risen considerably in the last few years [1-3].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
In the citing paper
“Many studies have focused on novel technologies, presenting prototypes, or investigating the feasibility and acceptance of a wearable device in a specific setting [3,27].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
In the citing paper
“Similar to other reviews, most devices were wrist-worn fitness trackers and accelerometers, and most of them are from the company Fitbit, measuring PA, HR, and sleep [3,27,31,224,225].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
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“These vital signs and device types seem to become the standard in wearable research [3,27,31,224,225].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
In the citing paper
“Overall, we have identified a positive trend in wearable studies, underlining the growing interest in wearables in health research, in line with other reviews [3,224-226].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
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Tricás-Vidal, H. J., Lucha-López, M. O., Hidalgo-García, C., Vidal-Peracho, M. C., Monti-Ballano, S., & Tricás-Moreno, J. M. (2022) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s22082960 · Cited by 39
“It is also necessary to consider that wearable activity tracker devices may function inaccurately [23].”
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Friend or foe? Can anthropomorphizing self-tracking devices backfire on marketers and consumers?
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“While a handful of studies have explored the adoption of these technologies (Fritz et al., 2014; Shin et al., 2019), few have investigated the consumer experience in relation to wearables and possible reasons for the dismissal of these devices over time.”
BackgroundWichmann, F., Pischke, C. R., Jürgens, D., Darmann-Finck, I., Koppelin, F., Lippke, S., Pauls, A., Peters, M., Voelcker‐Rehage, C., & Muellmann, S. (2020) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08927-8 · Cited by 29
Sensing health: a bibliometric analysis of wearable sensors in healthcare
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“Despite the burgeoning interest in wearable activity trackers (WAT), our comprehension of the research landscape in this domain remains limited [70].”
Moorthy, P., Weinert, L., Schüttler, C., Svensson, L., Sedlmayr, B., Müller, J., & Nagel, T. (2024) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/52179 · Cited by 34
“As stated in the previous paragraph, this is true for consumer-grade wearables such as Fitbit, Jawbone, Apple, and Garmin [153-157].”
BackgroundContinuous operation of battery-free implants enables advanced fracture recovery monitoring
Kasper, K. A., Figueroa, G., Perez, D., Miller, A. M., Gonzales, D. A., Siqueiros, J., Margolis, D. S., & Gutruf, P. (2025) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.adt7488 · Cited by 31
“Numerous social, cognitive, and psychological factors influence device use; ultimately benefit to burden ratio determines retention ( 27 , 44 ).”
Yang, Q. Y., Mamun, A. A., Hayat, N., Salleh, M. F. M., Salameh, A. A. M., & Makhbul, Z. K. M. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.889410 · Cited by 30
“Technology firms should consider offering free samples and free usage of healthcare technologies to harness the public attitude and form the intention to use these technologies (100).”
BackgroundNuske, H. J., Goodwin, M. S., Kushleyeva, Y., Forsyth, D., Pennington, J. W., Masino, A. J., Finkel, E., Bhattacharya, A., Tan, J., Tai, H., et al. (2021) · Autism Research · doi:10.1002/aur.2633 · Cited by 28
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“This decline in novelty, short interventional period, and variable additional support throughout the intervention may negatively affect use of the wearable technology when external accountability from the research study is removed [28-31].”
BackgroundDeterminants of the adoption of AI wearables - practical implications for marketing
Sułkowski, Ł., & Kaczorowska–Spychalska, D. (2021) · Human Technology · doi:10.14254/1795-6889.2021.17-3.6 · Cited by 27
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“WATs have gained increased attention from the general population as well as researchers and clinicians during the last decade with a twenty-fold increase in number of WAT-studies, from 8 to 2013 to 199 in 2017 [26].”
BackgroundKarami, A., Lundy, M., Webb, F., Turner‐McGrievy, G. M., McKeever, B. W., & McKeever, R. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18042159 · Cited by 25
“|D j ) (see Appendix A for a tweet example for each topic offered by LDA).”
BackgroundSelf-citationA Dynamic Light-Weight Symmetric Encryption Algorithm for Secure Data Transmission via BLE Beacons
Banani, S., Thiemjarus, S., Wongthavarawat, K., & Ounanong, N. (2021) · Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks · doi:10.3390/jsan11010002 · Cited by 23
“Applications that have been developed include chronic and non-communicable disease monitoring [1–7], fall monitoring [8–10], emergency care management [11–13], rehabilitation [14–17], fitness and lifestyle tracking [18,19], and sport performance monitoring [20–22].”
BackgroundAgreement of Sleep Measures—A Comparison between a Sleep Diary and Three Consumer Wearable Devices
Klier, K., & Wagner, M. O. (2022) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s22166189 · Cited by 23
tinyRadar for Fitness: A Contactless Framework for Edge Computing
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“Personalized insights such as step count, calories burnt, and distance travelled motivate people to exercise regularly and set higher fitness goals [2].”
BackgroundÖstlind, E., Hansson, E. E., Eek, F., & Stigmar, K. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-14065-0 · Cited by 23
“They are often used for self-monitoring of PA and can provide the user with prompts and feedback to an application (app) on the smartphone or tablet [21].”
BackgroundInfluentialLeskinen, T., Suorsa, K., Tuominen, M., Pulakka, A., Pentti, J., Löyttyniemi, E., HEINONEN, I. H. A., Vahtera, J., & Stenholm, S. (2021) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000002627 · Cited by 28
Investigating diseases and chemicals in COVID-19 literature with text mining
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“Text ining methods have been utilized for literature review surveys rel- vant to depressive disorder ( Zhu et al., 2018 ), wearable technology Shin et al., 2019 ), biomedical ( Chen et al., 2017 ; van Altena et al., 016 ), big data ( Mohammadi & Karami, 2020 Aug 24 ), medical case eports ( Karami,…”
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“With the increasing use of wearable devices and mobile apps for data collection, there is a growing concern about the security and privacy of such data [17].”
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“The number of studies on activity tracking technologies increased over the last years [27].”
BackgroundMeasuring Physical Activity Using Triaxial Wrist Worn Polar Activity Trackers: A Systematic Review
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“(36), identified 463 articles published between 2013 and 2017 that included a consumer-based activity tracker in their protocol.”
BackgroundFriel, C. P., & Garber, C. E. (2020) · American Journal of Health Promotion · doi:10.1177/0890117120919366 · Cited by 20
“19 It is now recognized that “various research perspectives are needed” to fully comprehend the role of wearable technology 20 but to optimize the potential benefits of WATs to users, a clear understanding of how and why people decide to use these devices and, crucially, why some decide to stop use…”
BackgroundAcceptance and perception of wearable technologies: A survey on Brazilian and European companies
Schwambach, G. C. S., López, Ó. H., Sott, M. K., Tedesco, L. P., & Molz, R. F. (2021) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101840 · Cited by 20
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“For example, clinical research on adults has demonstrated accuracy in measuring low levels of physical activity and steps in both healthy populations and those suffering from stroke, brain injuries, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and Parkinson’s disease (55,56).”
BackgroundBahadori, S., Williams, J. M., Collard, S. S., & Swain, I. (2023) · Cyborg and Bionic Systems · doi:10.34133/cbsystems.0069 · Cited by 22
“Although commercial activity monitors in interventions to promote physical activity in the form of walking is a relatively new phenomenon, there has been a rapid increase in their popularity and use in research during the last decade [19,45].”
BackgroundPrivacy Barriers in Health Monitoring: Scoping Review
Sun, L., Yang, B., Kindt, E. J., & Chu, J. (2024) · JMIR Nursing · doi:10.2196/53592 · Cited by 20
“Systematic review Shin et al [24] Age and autonomy “When it comes to privacy, older adults are very thoughtful and want to be empowered and to retain the sense of the home as a haven with respect for their autonomy.””
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“Various electronic devices, software, or wearable technology such as smartphones [6], fitness trackers [7], mobile phone applications [8], tablets [9], virtual reality [10], exergames [11], E-coaching [12], and Robotics [13] have been reported to support beneficial changes in sedentary time and…”
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Using an Activity Tracker in Healthcare: Experiences of Healthcare Professionals and Patients
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“A systematic review showed that there is attention to the possible added value of activity trackers in healthcare [29].”
Subramaniyaswamy, V., Vijayakumar, V., Srinivasan, D., Balaganesh, V., Damerla, S. B., Bhuvaneswari, S., & Ravi, L. (2022) · Axioms · doi:10.3390/axioms11070346 · Cited by 19
“It is also essential to keep in mind that the functionality of wearable activity tracker devices is not guaranteed to be accurate [32].”
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“The “novelty effect” presents additional challenges, as wearable devices often exhibit high initial adoption rates followed by substantial attrition [168], particularly problematic for depression monitoring requiring consistent long-term data collection.”
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“Previously, wrist-worn activity trackers have shown value for patients with chronic diseases, such as cancer or diabetes, or specific populations such as children or older adults.(8) Users' feedback has been mostly positive; users have found activity trackers appealing and useful for increasing their levels of physica…”
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Investigating In-Situ Personal Health Data Queries on Smartwatches
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“While a growing body of research revolves around smartwatches and other wearable activity trackers, only about 10% of such research is centered around the collected data and the ability to convey appropriate meaning and function [62].”
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“They identified key issues in WAT user experience, including preferred WAT features [23], how user motivation impacts user experience [23], and how acceptance and usability research provide important design implications [21].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Shin, G., Jarrahi, M. H., Fei, Y., Karami, A., Gafinowitz, N., Byun, A., & Lu, X.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Shin, Grace
- Venue
- Journal of Biomedical Informatics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-05
- Volume
- 93
- Pages
- 103153
- ISSN
- 1532-0464 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2927358919
- Cited by
- 326
- References
- 182
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 9
- FWCI
- 7.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Biomedical Informatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- 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
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Keywords
- wearable activity trackers, physical activity monitoring, device accuracy, technology adoption, user acceptance, abandonment, behavior change, self-monitoring, privacy, human-computer interaction, health effects, wearable sensors
- MeSH terms
- Fitness Trackers, Adult, Diffusion of Innovation, Humans, Patient Acceptance of Health Care
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