Wearable Devices to Improve Physical Activity and Sleep: A Randomized Controlled Trial of College-Aged African American Women
Abstract
This study examined the efficacy of the Jawbone UP platform for increasing physical activity and improving sleep quality among African American college women using a randomized controlled trial. Participants were college-aged (19.9 ± 1.7 years) African American women ( N = 69) at a southeastern midsize university in United States. The trial began in September 2013 and concluded in February 2014. Each group received similar brief training to use the respective platforms and weekly emails encouraged regular continued engagement. There was a significant difference at the 8-week follow-up, such that the intervention group decreased step counts relative to the comparison app (9,378 vs. 11,287 steps; p = .02). For sleep, neither group demonstrated any changes in sleep duration, sleep onset latency, wakefulness after sleep onset, or sleep efficiency at the 6-week posttest or 8-week follow-up. This study found no evidence for initial efficacy as a stand-alone tool for increasing physical activity or improving sleep.
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17 studies specified that participants must have regular access to the internet, a computer, tablet, and/or smartphone.
“Furthermore, 17 studies specified that the participant must have regular access to the internet, a computer, tablet, and/or smartphone [21,30,33,35-37,39,41-47,51-53]”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
4 studies included either an unstructured follow-up phase or an additional intervention phase utilizing a nonblinded activity tracker for all participants.
“In addition, 4 studies included either an unstructured follow-up phase [34,42] or additional intervention phase utilizing a nonblinded activity tracker for all participants [41,50].”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
13 studies included young adults (≤39.9 years), 15 included middle-aged adults (40-64.9 years), and 1 included adults over 65 years.
“Thirteen studies included young adults (≤39.9 years) [30-34,37,38,42,44,46-48,50], 15 included middle-aged adults (40-64.9 years) [21,22,29,35,36,39-41, 43,45,51-54], and 1 study included adults aged over 65 years [49].”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
Eight studies that reported physical activity outcome measures had greater than 20% loss to follow-up, with three of these reporting a reduction in physical activity participation.
“In addition, 8 studies [29,32,33,37,42,43,46,48] that reported physical activity outcome measures had greater than 20% loss to follow-up, with 3 of these studies reporting a reduction in physical activity participation.”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
One study reported a reduction in daily steps, one reported a reduction in MVPA participation, and three reported a reduction in energy expenditure in at least one included intervention group.
“One study reported a reduction in daily steps [42], 1 study reported a reduction in MVPA participation [37], and 3 studies reported a reduction in energy expenditure [46,47,52] in at least one of the included intervention groups.”
From Consumer-based wearable activity trackers increase physical activity participation: systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Melton, B. F., Buman, M. P., Vogel, R. L., Harris, B. S., & Bigham, L. E.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Southern University (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Melton, Bridget F.
- Venue
- Journal of Black Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-07-27
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 610-625
- ISSN
- 0021-9347 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4566
- OpenAlex
- W2411071042
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 4.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Black Studies (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Keywords
- wearable devices, physical activity, sleep quality, African American women, female university students, step count, sleep duration, sleep latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, mobile health apps, health behavior interventions
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