How consumer physical activity monitors could transform human physiology research
Open accessAbstract
A sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity are well-established risk factors for chronic disease and adverse health outcomes. Thus, there is enormous interest in measuring physical activity in biomedical research. Many consumer physical activity monitors, including Basis Health Tracker, BodyMedia Fit, DirectLife, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One, Fitbit Zip, Garmin Vivofit, Jawbone UP, MisFit Shine, Nike FuelBand, Polar Loop, Withings Pulse O 2 , and others have accuracies similar to that of research-grade physical activity monitors for measuring steps. This review focuses on the unprecedented opportunities that consumer physical activity monitors offer for human physiology and pathophysiology research because of their ability to measure activity continuously under real-life conditions and because they are already widely used by consumers. We examine current and potential uses of consumer physical activity monitors as a measuring or monitoring device, or as an intervention in strategies to change behavior and predict health outcomes. The accuracy, reliability, reproducibility, and validity of consumer physical activity monitors are reviewed, as are limitations and challenges associated with using these devices in research. Other topics covered include how smartphone apps and platforms, such as the Apple ResearchKit, can be used in conjunction with consumer physical activity monitors for research. Lastly, the future of consumer physical activity monitors and related technology is considered: pattern recognition, integration of sleep monitors, and other biosensors in combination with new forms of information processing.
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There is a positive trend in wearable studies, underlining growing interest in wearables in health research.
“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 [224]
These vital signs and device types seem to become the standard in wearable research.
“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 [224]
Open access to wearables' raw data or source codes is another aspect, as companies might change the source code and implement algorithms without obligation to announce or detail changes that might lead to bias and inconsistency of data.
“Another aspect is open access to the wearables’ raw data or source codes, as companies might change the source code and implement algorithms without the obligation to announce or detail changes that might lead to bias and inconsistency of data [224].”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [224]
Most medical fields represented in the included studies showed similarities with other reviews, for example, studies often focusing on cardiology, sports medicine, and neurology.
“Most medical fields represented in the included studies showed similarities with other reviews [224], for example, studies often focusing on cardiology, sports medicine, and neurology.”
From The impact of wearable technologies in health research: scoping review (2022) · cites this paper as [224]
Similar to other reviews, most devices were wrist-worn fitness trackers and accelerometers, and most were from Fitbit, measuring PA, HR, and sleep.
“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 [224]
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- Authors
- Wright, S. P., Hall Brown, T. S., Collier, S. R., & Sandberg, K.
- Affiliations
- Georgetown University (US)
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.; and
- Appalachian State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wright, Stephen P.
- Venue
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2017-03-01
- Volume
- 312
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- R358-R367
- ISSN
- 0363-6119 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1490
- PMC
- PMC5401997
- OpenAlex
- W2570277196
- Cited by
- 234
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 3.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- HHS | NIH | National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (TL1-TR001431, UL1-TR001409)
- HHS | NIH | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHBLI) (R01-HL119380)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Keywords
- wearable activity trackers, step count accuracy, pathophysiology, sedentary lifestyle, behaviour change interventions, health outcome prediction, mobile application, biosensors, pattern recognition, chronic disease risk
- MeSH terms
- Fitness Trackers, Equipment Design, Humans, Physiology, Technology Assessment, Biomedical, Exercise, Telemedicine, Equipment Failure Analysis, Biomedical Research, Actigraphy, Mobile Applications
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